PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

The remnants of a life: scattered papers and the last letter written in a dim, cold room where 

hope has faded. The final echo in an empty space. Image by Midjourney v6.

3. Tender Echoes in Ink - revised

“Non omnis moriar.”

– Horace

I am-

but who deciphers

the static in my marrow,

the flicker of a filament

spitting sparks

in the socket of my skull?

I am the vessel,

cracked and brimming,

where anguish sloshes,

tide against glass.

This world-

a crooked scale,

its fulcrum rusted,

its verdicts cold as coins

dropped in a well.

I tumble through

the hush of halls,

my pleas ricocheting

off marble, off memory,

off the backs of those

who never turn.

All I cherished-

ghosts in the fog,

fur and feather,

warmth and weight.

I write goodbyes

with knuckles white,

each syllable a shackle,

each phrase a pebble

dropped in the well of my chest.

For those I taught-

let your questions

crack the shell

of every easy answer.

Let hope be a howl,

let your laughter

shield you from the wolves.

For those I fed-

I’ve left the list,

the blanket,

the sunlit window.

Forgive me-

I have run out of doors.

I have begged,

bartered sleep,

mapped alleys,

counted sheep.

But the night keeps gnashing,

the dawn never breaks.

I am the last note

the violin makes

before the string snaps-

snap-

a hush,

a hush.

But I dream-

you, curled in a shaft of light,

you, safe in the hush of a home.

Let my leaving be a door,

not a wall.

Let my words be a bridge,

not a stone.

In the hush,

may you hear my hope.

"I pen farewells with hands that tremble, ache, / Each word a weight, each phrase a shackled sigh." Image by Midjourney v7

I am! Yet who discerns the self I bear?

My essence flickers, dimming like a star.

I am the vessel where my anguish dwells,

A mind in constant spin, both near and far.

This unjust world, its balance torn and lost—

Yet still I am—I live—though tempest-tossed.

Into the storm of cold, dismissive eyes,

Into the swirling sea of disbelief,

Where years of earnest, documented cries

Find no safe harbour, no shore, no relief.

All that I cherished fades into the mist,

My faithful friends, my comfort near-dismissed.

I pen farewells with hands that tremble, ache,

Each word a weight, each phrase a shackled sigh.

For those I've guided, nurtured, strived to wake,

Instructions flow like tears that never dry.

The care, the love, the dreams we've woven here—

Unravelled by the threads of fate, severe.

And for the gentle beasts who've shared my heart,

Whose fur and feathers soothed my weary soul,

I trace provisions for when I depart,

Each line an arrow through my being's whole.

The thought of parting rends with searing pain,

Yet homelessness would be a crueller bane.

I've fought, I've pleaded, scraped for any aid,

Exhausted every path, each avenue.

But now the hour comes, the choice is made,

To end this dance, to bid this life adieu.
The shame, the guilt, they claw with vicious talons,

Yet suffering's spectre looms in stark equivalence.

There's solace in imagining their joy,

In homes where love will be their steadfast guide.

Though I'll be gone, my spirit will deploy,

To guard and bless them, ever by their side.

And in that thought, a fragile peace unfurls,

To ease the ache within my shattered world.

So ink becomes my voice, my legacy,

The tether that connects me to their light.

Each caring phrase, a token of what's lost,

Each fond remembrance, armour for their fight.

I'll slip away, a whisper on the breeze,

But in these letters, part of me still breathes.

SECRET MESSAGES WILL APPEAR

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW IS RIGHT HERE

THEY WILL COME TO YOU LOUD AND CLEAR

TRUST YOU'LL FIND THEM HAVE NO FEAR

WHY DON'T WE BREAK THE ICE

IT'S BEST TO CUT CORNERS

DON'T BEAT AROUND THE BUSH

HIT THE  NAIL ON THE HEAD

IT'S A PIECE OF CAKE

BITE OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW

TAKE IT WITH A PINCH OF SALT

DON'T CRY OVER SPILLED MILK

GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER

GO THE EXTRA MILE 

THE BALL IS IN YOUR COURT 

DON'T THROW IN THE TOWEL

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

STEAL SOMEONE'S THUNDER

LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG

LET'S CALL IT A DAY OF IDIOMS

MIND YOUR Ps AND Qs

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST

THERE ARE TWENTY FOUR MORE

DO YOU THINK I JEST

ALL THE OTHER LETTERS

WANTED TO SUGGEST

THEY'RE JUST AS IMPORTANT

THIS IS THEIR REQUEST

I AGREE WITH THEM

AND I THINK IT'S BEST

TO GIVE THEM ALL A CHANCE

TO ADD A LITTLE ZEST

IF IT'S NEITHER HERE NOR THERE 

THEN WHERE IS IT

DON'T TELL ME THAT YOU DON'T CARE

IF IT ISN'T

WONDER IF SOME DAY YOU'LL DARE

TO REVISIT

IT ISN'T JUST A RUMOR

YOU NEED A SENSE OF HUMOR

TO LAUGH AT ALL THE NONSENSE

IT'S A FORM OF SELF DEFENSE

IT'S FUNNY HOW SOMETIMES

THINGS POP INTO YOUR HEAD

IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME

SOME THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE READ

SOME THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD

SOME THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN

SOME THINGS ARE JUST OBSERVED

SOME THINGS ARE JUST A DREAM

STEPPING STONES

ACROSS THE CREEK

MAY BE SLIPPERY

TREAD CAREFULLY

WHILE YOU SEEK

TO FIND ANOTHER WAY