I remember you,
I taste the fear again,
And still I feel the shame ,
Squirming in my mind
At the baseness of that emotion
Reliving the time
When you saw me.
Crisp white sheets on crisp white skin,
With only darkening hollows,
As the heralds to the things to come,
Meeting people who are strangers now;
The same way that you viewed me,
While you lay there.
Your vacant eyes and vacant mind,
Trapped by the remorseless pain,
With only fear scrabbling
For release behind
the semblance that was left of you
As you cried for death.
Yes
I still remember,
As the spring unfolded ~~
In glory before us,
For you it was,
The autumn of your years,
Then departure with no goodbye,
When you were 16.