Just One More Line...

By Kaavya Silambanan

“she worked hard everyday

To keep the smile on her face

Trying to keep her head above water

Hiding her struggles with laughter.”

She paused her pen , letting the ink blot,

Leaking into the indentations created by the words

‘The Final Goodbye’ she titled her page

Seemed fitting for a eulogy.

She looked up at the tightly fastened door in a daze

No one around to hear the thoughts etched on her face

The facade of her bravery slipped ever so slightly,

Tears daring to drip down onto her chapped lips gently.

Looking at the ceiling she dried her damp eyes

Thinking of the stars right above in the night sky.

She looked down at the words that were to live on

Once the final tether that held her here, had snapped;

She steadied her wavering hand, uncertain about

How to complete her last words to leave to the world

The pen, leaden with all the stories yet to be written

A lifetime worth of thought encompassed in a single eulogy

With glazed eyes and a frozen hand, she stared into space

The ink flowing on the page like the myriad of memories in her

Wondering how to emulate her beautiful life within a few verses,

As the words of her swan song lay glinting on the pages,

The rattling window nudged her back to the confines of reality,

Sterile air that hung like clouds worked its way into her breath.

The steady beeping of machines in the cold white room

Like a countdown to her last living moments.

Her pale lips stretched itself taut into a wry smile

Resigned she was, about the darkness to follow

Struggling to ensure peace when she was no longer around.

She hoped her writing would be the silver lining

One last attempt at leaving a piece of herself behind.

She couldn't bring herself to write ‘The End’

So she kept writing until the last light stopped blinking

Suddenly in a second, it was all over.

Quiet she rest, not a sound alive in the room

The machines paying an homage to the soul that extinguished

Her words lay on the page buzzing with her last energy

“…searching for the better days in tomorrows, as she lay…”

By Kaavya Silambanan