Can’t Go Home Again

I was excited,

when you invited me to your home
It was the very place we learned, 

we would never be alone
But when I arrived you were barely recognizable, 

something had changed within
You wasn’t the person that I remembered, 

although you wore her skin

I looked harder, I found glimpses 

of what I had left behind
But the deeper I went I realized 

they were just memories in my mind
I stopped to get to know you, 

and the person you had become
I couldn’t wait to share with you 

the journey I had begun

But conversation stuck in a loop 

going round and round again
It was then I realized 

that my best friend was dead.

I denied it with ever fiber,

 fought it with all my might
Believed I could breathe in life again,

 if I could just get you to light
but the darkness of your home,

the cobwebs in your head
You gave up humanity,

and hold poison close instead

As you slowly start to decompose, 

I wrestle with leaving you here
I credit you for my healing, 

and it’s something I hold dear.
We were soldiers in a battle,

 I had thought we had won the war
We were standing in the clear 

but you wasn’t behind me anymore
That is why I came back to get you,

 not accepting a casualty
I’ve come back to fight for you

and to heal you like you did me

As you try to persuade me, 

to take up residence in your house
I realized if I stay too long, 

I would never make it out
I know that you are really gone, 

many tears I am going to cry
But it’s time for me to go now, 

I must tell you goodbye

By Etha Walters
11/11/11