The Raven Redux & Other Poems

For Melissa

I had you once
as heaven touched the sky

We were hot and heavy
under the currents of the moon

Starry lights shined their glow
but what we had ended too soon

You were taken from me
barreling through mountain roads
then the straight and narrow

You were a Sleeping Beauty
dreaming dreams and lullabies
bullet fast moving as a broken arrow

You were taken from the world
long before you had a chance to show your shine
you left us all without saying your goodbye.

(When I received the phone call that night, I learned how
to not breathe. I was suffocating on tears and anxiety,
reeling in the agony of your passing. Only now do I find
the right words to say.)