Poem: Stay a While – 28/12/19

N.B. This post may be triggering for some people. Please consider if you may be prone to being negatively affected by reading this post. 

 Stay a while, they said to him, 
 consume, consume, 
 of us, 
 take your fill.
  
 There is nothing in life  
 we cannot fix,
 blindly drink, 
 devour, ingest,
 take us in,
 we are your fuel. 
  
 Then,
 Stay a while, 
 They say to him, 
 as he sways from side to side,
 excessiveness his served meal, 
  
 Stay, my friend, stay, 
 an echoing voice calls,  
 the past dragging him behind 
 to a voice he once knew well. 
  
 Stay, my darling, please,
 her voice begs of him, 
 as he foams at the mouth, 
 his eyes rolling terrifyingly,
  
 Go if you must, 
 his mother’s saddened voice is faint, 
 barely a whisper, 
 as she strokes his hair,
 wipes away the slick sweat.
 
 In a moment she knows he is lost. 
  
 Teach them to stay, 
 that life is worth living! 
 she announces to the 
 assembled crowd 
 at the gathering where 
 awareness is raised
 for her son and the psychology of 
 many lost and living others.
  
 They need to stay,
 she beseeches, 
 they need to know we want and need them to remain,
 love will teach them,
 that they need to stay a whole while longer.
  
 © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved. 

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