By JW Parr
Looking back, it seems clear
leaving was inevitable
There was no other way
Was there any other way?
Put in the middle of
Two incredible forces
Forced to make impossible decisions
that should never fall on someone
Left haunted by memories
of the most perfect lie
Forever to question the realities
and motives around me
Plagued by Ifs and Whys
What if the breathing stopped?
What if the others knew?
How would you feel then?
Would more people be here now?
Less?
Forgiveness is a tricky thing
Forgetting is a different beast
One might hold, but rarely two
But does the scale ever steady?
Alone now with more questions
than answers
Perhaps it’s for the best
but still I’ll wonder
Was I ever good enough?
Maybe someday I’ll find out
though I almost hope not
I guess what I’m trying to say is
Goodbye.
JW Parr lives in the southeast United States with his wife, daughter, and puppy. He has been writing for several years, with some of his stories winning local writing competitions, as well as his fiction and poetry being published in the online magazines, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Theme of Absence, and a forthcoming story inJitter Press. His blog can be found at https://itsjwparr.wordpress.com/