The Crimson Trail

*Trigger Warning* This post is about how a friend is there for their suicidal/ self-harming friend in a time of need. If you cannot handle these topics please find something else to read.

This is a poem I wrote a while back about two friends: one is full of lost hope and despair, while the other is full of love and hope. It’s a short story/ poem about how one friend refuses to give up on her friend who is wanting everything to end. A reminder to always be there for your friends, especially during hard times.

The beginning of this poem is about a young woman following a crimson trail, a trail of blood, finding her friend at the end. She desperately tries to get him to see that he is the one with the power to change how his life is. That death is not an answer. She brings hope and light to him in a time of need, though she understands he is the only one who can change his life. The thorns represent bad memories, cutting down the thorn-filled path represents him healing from those memories even though it hurts emotionally. She sees the potential in him and shows him she will always be there when he calls.

The Crimson Trail

Following a crimson trail, she runs into him

She tried to get him to understand, it is he who must cut down the thorn-filled path

His heart is weary and grim, in his eyes she clearly sees, he wants it all to end

However, she does what she can to help heal a heart filled with wrath

She comes to him with a soft smile and hope in her eyes

She sees his pain and knows all too well about life’s misery

Wanting to heal the pain he held in deep inside

Though she understands all he’s used to is trickery

This life has been cold and unkind

She sees the struggle he constantly battles

The unsettling thoughts that cross his mind

The heart-shattering memories that keep him in shackles

She may not be the key to unlock the chains holding him down

Though she would give her own life if that would get him to see

How much people do enjoy him being around

He’s searching for answers

Ones she knows deep in her heart she can’t solely provide

He feels so unaccepted due to society’s standards

She just wishes he could see how many people he brings to life

Dark and morbid his mind may be

He’s still the truest friend she’s ever known

Which is why she constantly pleas for him to see

She shudders at the thought of having to visit a headstone

She won’t let him fall to his own demise

Just as he won’t let her fall to hers

Hopefully one day he will truly realize

She will go to hell and back over again for him and those she loves

He will never understand why her heart cries out to everyone like it does

The need to show him even in the darkness there will always be a light to help show the way

That even though life is grim, there are still hopeful days

He must be the one to cut through the barbed wire

And break through the thorns

Though it may feel like he’s dying

She knows it’s the only way to heal the pain he holds deep inside

Silently she watches unsure what to do

She just knows she won’t let him be completely through

His blue eyes held a sadness deeper than Challenger Deep

But her hope is greater than the Solan Great Wall

She will help ease his yearning for eternal sleep

She will always be there and answer when he calls

For she is his rock through it all

Additional

It’s easy to be there for someone when everything is going good. When it feels like everything is okay and everyone is fine. However, it’s during the storms in life when everything is going wrong, is when it is crucial for friends and family to be there for each other. We are all human and need support, reassurance, and guidance during certain parts of our lives.