Anger

The sun splashed the sky with colors 

As it broke across the hard horizon

Such blatant vibrancy chafed my soul

How could nature not be aware

Of what is churning in my life

The ticking of the clock

The progression of time

How can all other things continue

When all this stopped with you

Take me back to the time

The time before endings

The time before loss

The time before death

Do not think yourself exempt 

It could be any minute

Any hour, any day, any week

Any month, or any year

When suddenly everything stops

Just like it stopped on that day

Unexpectedly I am trudging

In the mire of sad memories

The glimmer of happy remembrances

Is sullied by darkness of pain

I know

Time must proceed

I cannot stay in this hole

Nothing changes if there is no movement

I know all the right words

I’ve heard them from the well wishers 

I’ve even spoken them to others

Now is teaching me how ineffectual they are

Anger cuts through me like a plow

Exposing the tenderness of my bared soul

Nothing good can come from this loss

The blood of my love wastes on the ground

I want to howl, I need to rage

I want to scream it out 

And yet, I want to hold it close

It is, after all, what I have left

Loneliness, my closest friend

Emptiness, my constant companion

Pain holds me like a shroud

I am baptized in bitter tears

Memory has become my enemy

If I did not know, I would not know 

For, although love is worth the pain 

Anger is all I have left

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

October 30, 2020