October is like...

October By: Lauren Jernberg

Part 1

If October is like the pain

Of a family losing

A loved one. Crying, grieving,

Wishing for more time.

Sitting in an empty room full of

People with nothing to say.

Then May is like a new life

Entering the world. You hold

Them tight and never let

Them go. For they will be gone too soon.

Earlier today I was driving down

The road. A biker ahead disappears

Around the corner. I go on hoping

On one is on the other side. I turn

The corner. My life flashes. Me

Playing games with siblings as kids.

Learning to ride my first bike

And getting scratched along the way.

Graduation from high school, my

First year in college, then I realize

Everything was fine.

And this too

The cross bold in the sun

I am back in church as a kid.

Coloring but listening as well.

The pastor talks about Jesus and

How he saved us. I look up

To the cross in the back,

Sun shining on it making it

Glow. A halo of light sits atop of it.

I am amazed and stop in mid coloring

To listen. Not knowing what to hear

I wait. The things you hear in church.

Once in a dream we went to the beach.

It was nice and sunny out.

My friends took me diving

Even though we didn’t know how.

We saw wonderful things as we dove.

I knew we were not in Oregon anymore.

But we run out of air.

Gasping for a breath we watch

The bubbles fade away.

Part 2

I never thought life would be

Like this. Free from the problems

Of reality. We dance. I love to dance

With my two left feet but

He doesn’t seem to mind.

We spin round and round on

The dance floor happy to be together.

I never thought I could be this happy.

He completes my life.

Together forever till death do us part.

Believe me, what happened next

Was not what you would expect.

We went our ways for he

Had to leave. My life

Was afraid of what would be.

The worst thing you ever said

To me was, you are a great friend.

A friend? Just a friend was what

I was and it felt like a lie to me.

These days I feel like falling.

A never ending fall wondering

Where it will take me.

Letting myself go.

Falling into emotions that are

Over running my life. Waiting

For someone to catch me.

Once in October

I met a guy. He swept me

Off my feet but it all was a lie.

I fell so hard that I couldn’t go back

He left me there with a picture.

Told me he would be back.

Where is he now?

But it is not October anymore

It is May. Wishing for time I don’t

Have. It was gone too soon.

Everything flashes before me

Then disappears just as fast.

The bold sun falls on him.

He glows with a smile.

He is home from the war.

I fall into him and he catches me.

This is what I have been waiting for.