Limerick for No One

She sat upon the coarse sea shore,
Looking to find some peace and more,
Heart tearing and torn,
Happiness b'yond the horn,
Days of laughter soon in her store.

Don't Mind Me

If I say...

Don't hold my hand,
It's not you, don't mind me.
Sometimes I'm anti-social;
It's not you, don't mind me.

I don't want to talk.
I don't want hugs.
I want solitude,
Not you.

Just don't mind me.

Days come and go
Nothing wrong.
Once or twice,
I need silence.
I need to be alone.

People bother me, even you,
Holder of my heart.
It's not you, don't mind me.

I'm not in the mood for kissing.
Not wanting to cuddle,
Talking is overrated.
Yet my heart aches.
Anti-social me comes and goes.

Don't worry, it's not you, it's me.

I don't want to hold hands.
I don't want to go out.
I don't want to watch a movie,
Oh, why can't you see?

It's not you, don't mind me.

Just listen to my plea,
Then maybe you'll see.
This is one of those days
Where everything seems dull and grey.

Always remember, it's not you.
Now, don't mind me.

About Memories

Pouring rain could be heard on the rooftop as he lay on his bed thinking about how things could have gotten to where they were. Days have passed since it happened, yet he kept his ring over his heart as he said he always would. He remembered a night similar to this one, where she came home soaked to the bone. The sight of her made him want to laugh, but the look in her eyes took away his sense of humor. Something had happened that night. After a few years, he could tell that something was wrong with her just by feeling her presence in the room. She dodged all of his questions, avoided every glance in her direction. His heart began to ache as memories of her face and smile filled his sight.

He thought he should be bitter about what happened, but he knew he could not live being bitter. All he wanted in life was to love her and make sure she was happy, but he knew that he could not control other people around him. Thinking of this, he recalled a summer day that was supposed to be the first in a series of summer days with her. She wore a blue sun dress that caused her green eyes to boldly stand out against her pale skin. The smile that she wore outshone any that he had seen at that point. Heart swelling, he saw himself lying on a grassy hill watching her take in the beauty of the countryside. Shutting his eyes, he knew every detail of that particular memory and yet he remembered it as if it was happening for the first time.

A scratching came at his door, and he tossed the covers off to open it. He knew what the scratching meant, but instead of ignoring it, he welcomed the company of her cat to his bed. Closing his eyes, he fought off the images of the accident all over again. Every night the same images crept to the service of his thoughts, and every night he them off. His wounds had healed by now and the scar tissue was beginning to fade from pink to white. Another memory surfaced of when they first got married and were deciding how to decorate their apartment. Of all the memories he had of her, this one was the most joyous and painful other than the accident. The argument they had over where the couch should go was hilarious, but the tears the ensued still tore at his heart. He could never figure out why it mattered so much to her, but when he saw tears form in her eyes, he knew that it mattered.

Sometimes, while tossing and turning at night, he imagined she had just gotten up to go the bathroom. He would run his hand over the spot on the bed where her indents would be and soak up the memories of sharing her bed. Feeling the familiar weight of her cat at his back, he opened his eyes for the umpteenth time and looked at the alarm clock. Streaking the outside of the window, rain continues to fall as he began to relive the accident that changed his life forever. His body ached anew as he started remembering what happened when his wife was taken from him.

He did not want to remember that accident anymore. After many visits to doctors of all kinds, he wanted to just forget what happened and move on with his life. “Isn’t it enough that my wife was taken from me at that time? I don’t want to lose my life to the accident too,” he thought as he tried to fend off the memory of that night.

Stroking the cat’s back, he tried to refocus his thoughts as the noises from the accident started to ring in his ears. Tears leaked from his clenched eyes as he knew his fight to forget was losing. Blurred images of lights flashed across his vision as this memory fought to break through again. He dreaded this memory most of all. It contained so much strife and sorrow and hurt. Though he was not the only person impacted by the accident, he felt the weight of it keenly. They were getting ready to start having children, and that thought was the bitterest of all of his nighttime thoughts. Squealing tires and sirens could be heard as the accident replayed in his mind. A light flashed across his vision, and the next thing he knew, his alarm clock was going off telling him it was time to get out of bed and live another day.

As hard as it always is, he got out of bed to face another day without her, his beloved wife.

Meetings

Boots splash water from a puddle as racing foot steps echo throughout the alleyway. The leather of the boots creaked as many bodies turn a corner. Breathing heavily, Sa fights off the urge to look behind at her pursuers - knowing it would slow down her run. How many were chasing her as she ran for some safety; she did not know. One more corner and she ran head on into a man listening to an mp3 player. The pair crashed onto the sidewalk as her pursuers came upon the scene. A baffled, red-headed woman asked, "You seen a woman run around here?"

The man, who when the group of pursuers came upon him had fallen on top of Sa and hid her, unbeknownst to him, turned toward the red head. Confused, he glanced around and replied, "What's going on? I just got hit by a bicyclist and am not even sure who I am right now."

Bearing their teeth, the group of pursuers grumbled unintelligible words and ran off in hopes of finding Sa.

When she came to, she saw a man standing over her and checking her pulse. "What just happened? I was being chased... I turned a corner, and now I'm lying on my back with a man touching my neck. I don't recognize a thing either," Sa thought as she tried to recall where she might be and why a man might be checking her pulse.

He had a concerned look on his face as he took his hand away from her neck and sat down next to her on the pavement. His hand went into his pocket and pulled out a small mp3 player and the many pieces left of it. Brow furrowed, he returned the pieces to his jacket and turned his attention to a conscious Sa. Worry shot through her as she began to realize that the chase may have never ended, and she had been captured by her pursuers. Panicked, she tried to push herself up off of the pavement. Grunting, the man fought her flailing arms and forced her to lie back down on the sidewalk.

Eyes closed, she realized that her struggle was in vain when she realized how much of her strength was expended in her flight. when she opened her eyes again, she looked at the man sitting next to her and then looked around her to see where she ended up. Realizing her exhaustion, she closed her eyes again as she heard the man start to speak. "You know, when you rudely bump into a stranger, have them cover your butt and break their property; the least you could do is stay awake and introduce yourself to them and apologize."

Slowly opening her eyes, horror set in as Sa remembered how she came to be lying on the concrete of downtown. Embarassed, she reopened her eyes and looked at the man sitting next to her. She remembered everything now - the collision, the man rolling on top of her, her pursuers treating him rudely by trying to find her. Her heart sunk as the image of the broken mp3 player came to mind as a result of her reckless running. Eyes misting, she sat up again and turned toward the upset man.

Looking through tears, she saw a mischievous smile on his face. Perplexed, she wiped the tears away from her face and looked again. On the verge of laughter,, the man sat there with a roguhish shine in his eyes. Upset, Sa uttered, "You aren't really upset, are you?"

With a chuckle, he replied, "No, not in the least. My name's Damon."