It’s about time
For leaving early
After sharing
A couple good laughs
As those few days turn
Into decades
When happiness
Always seems rare

Until our goodbyes
Offer hindsight
Letting feelings once held
Become burdens
Where an exit now looms
Without warning
Even knowing how death
Cannot wait

Before each breath
Appears lost
Between said words
Still remaining
On emptier winds
Breezing past us
Pushing those doors
Sadly shut

So another life
Fades behind skin
Like invisible hearts
Barely beating
And heard through each chest
Amid silence
Until this flesh
Just gives up

Yielding questions
Rather than faith
Transforming that fear
From raw solace
But festering rage
Beneath memories
Hurting what hope
Gets replaced

Departing too soon
Being stubborn
Watching loved ones
Leap beyond reason
Over heaven’s cliff
Stealing moments
Yet to be had
Though they wish.

• J. Pigno