Faith
“Faith” Free verse poetry, Poetry Workshop 2002
She might have lost her faith in God that night
Had life’s stopped heart not started again when
She cried and beat her fists upon his chest.
Liquor—the silent, killing distraction
That screwed his mind—left him dying, gasping.
Her heart of needles continued to beat,
But with each beat, bad thoughts and blood would clash
And clot and send rotting acidic waves
To her stomach: cancerous ulcer and death.
She has time for neither. The life she had
Chased died before she knew. She found the ghost
Of his memory—the man who could have died
Without her pleading prayers and tears. He lived,
But lost his heart—the part of him she loved.