Harsh Reality
by Dawn Harding

 personal-narrative  poetry

I woke up one morning
to a harsh reality,
It wasn’t what I saw,
but what I didn’t that struck me

There was no window
to see the sunrise,
a thin blanket with no pillow
to muffle my cries

The warmth of my home
now lost to this cold,
Alone in this cell
is where my story unfolds

I’d always been into
the partying scene,
Causally drinking
and smoking some weed

I moved on to coke
and then came heroin,
I hadn’t even started
and was already done in

I lost all I had and
some that wasn’t mine
Believing I was alright
and everything was fine

Living in the fast lane
all those wasted years,
So many lost emotions,
so many unshed tears

The only way to say
how I’m feeling now
is oh, I’m oh so tired,
so tired of it all

By blocking my emotions
I didn’t know what I had done,
Where happiness should be
there was absolutely none

I’d blocked out the good
as well as the bad,
And a fantasy created
was what I really had

I think I want those feelings
that I chose to ignore,
The harshness of reality
knocking at my door

I want to live and I
mean really live again,
Say goodbye to this nightmare
that I’ve been caught up in

To get back with my family
to get to know my son,
To give GOD back my heart
and know I’m truly done

See reality can sting, but it
can also fill your heart
Mending at the seams, where
it once was torn apart

I’m ready now to take on life,
to give it another try
Come good, come bad, come all,
just please don’t pass me by!