Lost Lives, Lost Lights, Lost Loves

When I think of them, shortened lives Filled with anxiety, depression, sacrifice I wonder at their self-destructive survival Once, each one, such an innocent child… Never knowing that most would be cut short By drugs, addictions, suicide – dark and twisted Moments stirred with pride, vanity and egotism When I remember their condensed lifetimes Breathless, tortured, tormented and misshapen Strewn together by dread, doubt and depression All of the feelings that make sure we reject… The beauty, the peace, the hope that eases fear Fills our lives with kindness, acceptance and belief Hues of sweetest grace, enthusiasm and elation When I reconsider their lives, all their many alibis Lost and lonely, their solitary moments, isolation So great that it gave them chills instead of thrills Emotional collapse, expressions of the darkest clouds Brought to life by the presence of sin, the iniquity Filled to the brim with obsessions, compulsion, need For habits – alcohol, drugs, pills with all their miseries When I ponder all their dreams, the hearts and souls Who lived within, shadows of spirits who are so afraid To listen to the silence or hear the solitude make a way For prayer and praise, sanctification, the possibilities Found in a faith far deeper than the narcissistic ways… Futility, emptiness, all the vainness that abounds when God is ignored and pleasure is the soul purpose of one… Who knows the wonder of His gifts, yet never seems to see Entering the 27 club is an entrance into everlasting chaos Instead of the everlasting peace that welcomes those who Know the One we call Jesus, the Savior, the Redeemer…. The light that shines in the darkness, the revelation of mercy The sanctification and purpose of a lifetime filled with joy Because of knowing Him, the One who silences every burden Even though the 27 Club has been admired and applauded There is little doubt that entering there, brings desolation Sorrows that remind hearts of the dejection felt by those Who know denial and rejection, confusion and dismay, fears And tears that leave the heart consumed by its breaking Without even the slightest thought of a selfless awakening To the needs of those who make life worth forsaking… death The enemy’s revival of brutality and malice Makes the 27 Club the club for self-destruction The club for those who question true love the 27 club Poetry Contest Sponsored by: Anthony Biaanco August 28, 2022