I wrote this particular poem for a college class in March of 2008, 4 months after my friend, Danielle, passed away from a brain tumor. She was only 20 yrs old and was going to school to become a nurse. I have lost so many friends at such a young age that it is hard to understand why such things happen.
Danielle and I went to school and worked together until the pain became to much for her to function each day. She was such a brave young gal to go through what she did. Heck, Danielle lost her mom (age 31) to cancer when she was only 7 yrs old, so she knew about loss and pain. She explained to me that she started having headaches so severe that the family took her to the doctor to find out what was going on. That is when they found out she had a brain tumor after the doctor had a CT scan done. Danielle was able to graduate from high school at the age of 16, even though the tumor took her sight away, and went to the University of Portland to start her nursing career, but had to drop out and come home when the pain became too much. She was trying to take classes at the University of Montana when I meet her and knew she was someone special.
I truly miss my friend and hope she and her mom are having fun together up in Heaven.
I remember the date and time
when they told me that you had passed on
I said it can’t be true, I don’t believe it
They tell me that your soul is long gone
But I say you are still breathing
As I look at your pictures
I imagine the days when we talked for long hours
about anything that came of interest
I never thought you would leave so soon
As I lay in the grass thinking
I know your presence is always near
Far apart I know no fear
As I look into the fall sky
I imagine your face and your arms
Holding me tight
And saying our grace
All I have to say before I go
I love you forever
Here and alone
I remember the funeral, cold with snow on the ground
The music is of sadness and heartbreak
I hear your favorite song “I Can Only Imagine”
And I try not to cry
I hold the funeral card in my hand
Still trying to grasp that you are gone
And wonder why God took such a loving and caring person so soon
You had so many dreams and goals,
Your biggest to become a nurse
But the pain became too much and you had to put those
Dreams on hold
Now you are gone and no longer in pain
I hope God as taken you to your mom and you two are
Having joyous fun
My friend, I will never forget you or your smiles
I will never let you go,
I’ve just learned to let go of the pain.
For my friend Danielle Matthaes September 27, 1987- November 24, 2007
By: Thressa (Dunn) Scott
Copyright: March 2008
Oh my, this is heart-wrenching! I could feel the sorrow as I read it and then when I listened it was very palpable as your voice quivered. Very much a potent piece.
As for the structure, I think perhaps breaking it up a bit more into shorter stanzas would be nice; Or, I think this piece would benefit from punctuation to strengthen the intensity of the overall tone…. Perhaps even structured into a poetry prose piece. Just some ideas to consider. :)
Thank you for your comments. I will take each of your ideas and consider them. I will look at putting some punctuation in. Thank you again for the helpful ideas.