I still remember the last day I saw you
Laying in the hospital bed, close to the end
My dad grabs your hand and slowly says
“I remember the day you came into this world
Now I’ll always remember the day you left”
I tried to understand,
Wrap my young mind around the scene
My aunt told me to hold his hand,
His soul was now clean
I still don’t understand why God wanted you to leave
After the doctors cut off your life support that was helping you to breath
God had stolen your life away from us
Taken you to the highest points in the sky
So far up high,
I could reach but wouldn’t even try
The Sunday before my mom told me to fast
But I ignored the request
I figured it would pass
And it’s not that I didn’t want to,
It’s just I couldn’t deal with the thought of you dying
I guess that’s why at the service I couldn’t stop crying
But now, 5 years later, all I can do is write
This poem is my way to say to you,
I’m sorry I didn’t want to visit you.
I know I was young then but
For years that was no excuse
I hope you forgive me
Let me tighten up the screws
Of my board that was waving in the storm of your memory
You couldn’t hide your pain behind your smile
And I guess your laughter wasn’t the best kind of medicine after all
Michael Kenneth Zoellner passed away
October 11th, 2006
And since then I’ve felt nothing but bricks
If my words could bring you back I’d never stop writing
And if you were in the audience I’d never stop reciting
Until the room was left empty and my tears would start drying
And it was just you and me.
You lived your life off wild and recklessly
But always smiling
Though you left a thousand lives untouched
Your presence will always live on
Through us.