Forgive Me

This poem was written in response to the Rattle® Poetry Ekphrastic Challenge for May 2023 and was ultimately not selected. You can find more information here.

https://www.rattle.com/ekphrastic/

The image that this poem was specifically written about can be found here. (May 2023 - Carmella Dolmer's “A Lonesome Border”)

https://i0.wp.com/www.rattle.com/ekphrasis/EC23May.jpg?ssl=1

Forgive Me

I beg of you

Forgive me

For I know that you

Will not understand

Why I had to go

At least not yet

For your heart is still so young

I know that my leaving will grieve you

And break what is left of you apart

And in my absences

Then you will comprehend

For your soul will no longer be

Naïve to the pain of the world

And I am sorry

That my departure

Will be what teaches that to you

But when I used to close my eyes

I saw the rosy red

Of our blushing cheeks

As we talked about boys

Basked in summer’s sunny warmth

Splashed in the refreshing cool of the lake

As we swam naked in the dark

Felt the green moss beneath our feet

In forests where we used to walk

But now a chill has settled in

And all has turned to gray

Of steel bars upon a cage

A prison for which there is no key

And the mirrors

No longer show my reflection

Instead a ghost

Stares back at me

A shell of what was

A hollow emptiness

That can never be filled again

So please understand

It was never my intention to cause you pain

For I would never wish such suffering

On a friend so dear and close as you

My confidant, soul-mate sister

But I have to ease the pain

That aches throughout me each day

The only way

Is for me to go

And for that

Forgive me

Submitted under MRB