Clawing My Way Out of the Abyss

Poetry in free verse

When you left,
grief became a part of me,
so closely entwined with my being
I felt it would never leave.
The darkness would never go,
the loneliness never ease,
my breathing would forever feel
suffocated.

But day by day
moment by excruciating moment,
I could feel the pressure
lift,
the ache was always there
but with time,
the pain dulled
those fingers with their
death-grip
on my wind-pipe
loosened
and after a long time,
I could breathe again.

Then, one sunlit morning,
I woke up,
and the first thought in my head
wasn’t yours.
The craving in my heart was for happiness
that for once,
wasn’t linked to a thought
wishing you were mine again.

It was as if I was born a second time,
only stronger,
for I knew that though pain
would never cease
to make its presence felt,

if I clawed my way out of this deep an abyss,
I could crawl my way out of anything.

If you liked this piece of work, you might be interested in my book of poems — Stolen Reflections: Some Stories Are Told in Verse.