Editor, OBSERVER:

A TROUBLED SOUL

You say you can’t go on,

the days too short

the nights too long,

your friends and family few.

You reminisce in silence

keeping counsel deep within,

allowing thoughts

of self-destruction

to perniciously creep in.

Relationships with the worldly

bring little solace only so far,

and your eyes are anxiously searching …

seeking out some distant star

You shout!

That there’s little this earth can offer

For one so bereft and sad

That perhaps it’d be better.

for an early departure to be had.

One desperate leap

into the fearful abyss.

Just a brief moment of reflection —

Go on! You won’t be missed

But wait! Stay your rashness,

don’t do anything so mad

for there’s a glimmer of hope

in the distance —

if patience can be had.

And its coming from those many who

also share silently in your grief

who need your strength to brace them

so never, never, take that final leap

All life is a tenuous balancing act

and we’re all in it together,

just wafting … drifting

aloft in the air

as a wind blown feather.

So never quit,

never flag

hold firm the colors,

fly them high!

And at the end of life

they’ll gather and say

that no matter what may,

you have fought the good fight!

RALPH BURKE,

Dunkirk