Welcome again to “Glimpses Across the Barricades” my poetry in progress.
Today I share with you a brief glimpse of my dear friend, Jenny. I met her on the streets when she was barely eight-years-old. I was eleven. She took her own life several years ago. The world is a darker place now that her sweet soul no longer lights it.
MASKS
By
Suzanne Burke.
MASKS.
Eight-year-old eyes
Devoid of hope
For the innocence was gone.
Eight-year-old ears
That only heard
Violent words, of crushing fear.
Eight-year-old soul
That barely whispered
Before it was taken away.
Eight-year-old heart
With no joyous beat
A heart that stopped too soon.
And the masks that we wear
Cause others despair
As they search to find something long gone.
Masks of laughter bent and twisted.
Faces shielding the dark within.
The weapons we are wielding
Peirce far beneath the skin.
We that are too broken
A place where forgiveness
Has yet to find a home.
We remove that last fear, finally
Into just one more unknown.
Eight-year-old eyes
that only cried
beneath the mask.
A wonderful poem, Soooz. So sad and moving.
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤️️ Thank you, Gerry.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Words To Captivate ~ by John Fioravanti and commented:
Suzanne Burke has brought me to tears once more with these verses that commemorate a beautiful lost soul we met in Suzanne’s books “Empty Chairs” and “Faint Echoes of Laughter”. Please, read on…
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤️️ Thank you for sharing my memory of Jenny, John. She deserves to be remembered.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, Soooz. I agree, she should be remembered.
LikeLike
I cried, Soooz… men aren’t supposed to cry, are they? Hugs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🌹True men, cry. Men who have the courage to be vulnerable to the pain this world seems to offer in abundance, are the men worthy of that title. You are a man who has never become desensitized to pain, my friend. It is an ability to be proud of. ❤️️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your kind words, Soooz.
LikeLike
Oh my…I’m without words. So powerful. So sad. Thank you for sharing this with us, Soooz. Blessings and hugs, my dear friend. XO
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤️️ Thank you, my dear friend. I know Jenny would have liked you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Moving poem, Soooz. So sad that any youngster needs to be introduced to life this way. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🌹Thank you, John. Too many children in this world never know the meaning of the word childhood. Jenny never knew the laughter of innocence.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hugs
LikeLike
Wow, Suzanne. This was moving, haunting, and beautiful at the same time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🌹Thank you, my friend.
LikeLiked by 1 person