A poem I wrote this winter about a guy I liked. Not much came from it except for maybe a little bit of grief and heartache: two great emotions to channel into poetry. This piece came from a larger chapbook for a second level poetry workshop I took this spring.

Please accept this frigid poem as some relief from these last few warm August days.

57 Lines

Please, Just Care For Me After

Don’t you find it
Deeply unsettling
The way that you left me?

Cold and alone,
My warm insides
Leaking out of my ribs
Mixing and melting with
The white, white snow.

You stand above
My weak and grieving body
Holding the knife.

Whenever you’d leave me,
My ribs ached,
My eyes would burn and sting,
But you would always
Come back
To hold me,
Your warmth
Soothing my sides,
Your lips,
Kiss my eyes,
Reminding me I should be safe.

You faded faster
Than the love-
The bruises
You left around my neck.

I should’ve known
That when you left me
Hurting and aching
You made me dependent
On your ‘love,’
On you.
Now, you hold the knife,
But you also hold the power
To lift me up
To help me.

But you don’t.

Instead,
You walk away
Leaving me
In a puddle
Of dread
And sorrow.

Will you come back?

Will you help me heal these wounds?

The cold is isolating,
And unbearable
Like the state you left me in, so
I get up
And gather my insides in my arms
Gripping at my sides.

The wound wasn’t as deep as I thought.

The scar is still there
And only aches
When I see the tea you made us,
The oranges we shared,
And the sweet and smoky aroma
Of your berry tobacco.

-Abigail Marble