Collapsed on cold floor,
toppled mannequin,
carbon monoxide clouding
your consciousness;
the last note you wrote
among photos of the boy
who wasted your dumb heart;
cheerleader and football player
staining each other’s lives,
too impatient to wait out the storm,
for the heart to recharge,
each moment multiplied in pain
by lack of years, barely able
to drive the car attached to the hose;
life-taker,
family-wrecker,
your obit in my wallet for years;
I want to tell you
there is so much more.
Published in Collected Poems, 2016
©2016, Dan Schell, Flex Your Head Books