Heather

by Brenda   Oct 17, 2016


I sometimes can
still hear your voice.
Whispers in the wind...
It's funny, all my memories
of you,
are us as kids.
Not when you died,
at seventeen...
---
You had it all, wanted for nothing,
but what you craved
the most,
seemed the farthest away,
acceptance...
Being a teacher's kid
was like being a social pariah
in those days.
Attempts to fit in
were followed by bad choices
we have all made
in our youth,
some of us
still making those type of choices
as adults,
under the guise of "fitting in".
---
What brought me home
that weekend from school,
I still do not know....
---
Why you were on our road
heading into town
to drop off fellow partiers,
will remain a mystery.
Dead people don't always
give up answers,
do they?
---
So there's my mom,
looking out the window
in my room,
stating she heard a noise.
"Turn the porch light on,
there's been an accident"
No sooner had I done so
a kid I went to school with
came running up our drive.
He had cuts, he was dazed,
then he told me who was driving.
NOOOOOO!
Not you Heather!
Running out to a smoking car
in the ditch,
there you were, lying there,
oh so quiet,
While other kids were wailing.
I held your hand,
willing you to wake up,
snap out of this state you were in.
I swear you opened your eyes,
looked me dead in the face,
me, telling you it was going to be ok.
Later they told me
you had never regained consciousness.
---
I think of all the things
you have missed
all these years.
I think about your folks,
never seeing you graduate,
get married, have kids of your own.
I often wonder if you
would have achieved that acceptance
you so desperately craved,
if your life hadn't ended
at seventeen?

6


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Latest Comments

  • 7 years ago

    by Milly Hayward

    Oh Brenda this was such a sad poem. It ripped me apart, reminded me of so many lost young lives. A tremendously visual and emotional peace very well written. Milly xx

    • 7 years ago

      by Brenda

      Thank you so much Milly. It is sad indeed on how many young lives are gone.

  • 7 years ago

    by Em

    Brenda. This is truly sad, touching and emotional. One of my best friends was murdered a few years ago because he was mentally ill and the people who killed him didn't like that fact and each year on his anniversary it seems to get more and more difficult.

    All the best, Em

    • 7 years ago

      by Brenda

      Em, I am so sorry! It's not easy to lose a friend at all but when that anniversary date rolls around it makes it doubly so. Hard to believe she would of been 52 now. Hugs!

  • 7 years ago

    by Maple Tree

    This truly got to me....

    My best friend Angie in highschool died at seventeen, on her way to school, she was hit by a train...

    Brenda, I've written about her several times but I have to say, this poem for Heather just really touched me... I think it's because you truly stir the emotions within your lines and lay it out for the reader!

    Thank you for sharing...hugs you

    • 7 years ago

      by Brenda

      Andrea, thank you! I am so sorry to hear about your friend Angie. How awful! The things we do as kids, amazing we make it to adult hood. We think we are bullet proof because we are young. I think about some of things I did when I was younger....hugs to you-

  • 7 years ago

    by Mr. Darcy

    Hello Brenda,

    Although bitterly sad, I enjoy reading these short stories. Your build up to the crash is well told. Background to any piece of writing is important, it allows the reader context before the climax. Sometimes the climax is the place to end, but not here. You continue to reveal more inner dialogue, a question: would they have found acceptance from those closest? I feel that those same people will always live with regret.

    Well done Brenda, an enjoyable read from you. I have noticed a typo though: after the part "in the ditch" 'they' should be 'there', well I think so anyway. :)

    Take care,

    Michael x

    • 7 years ago

      by Brenda

      Michael, thank you so much! I fixed the typo, thanks for the catch. I always worry I have gotten too long winded when I write, I am really glad you like these. Much appreciated. Hugs-Brenda

  • 7 years ago

    by deeplydesturbed

    Qow how terrible to find a friend like that. Im truely sorry for your loss brenda.. such a tribute to her.

    • 7 years ago

      by Brenda

      Thanks Naomi, the craziest thing was her brother had died at 16 three years earlier in a freak car accident on the next road over at his friends house. Both kids gone before the turned 18. So, so sad. Her parents were devastated. I can't even begin to think about losing a child, She was a funny outgoing girl that I have missed all these years.

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