Nov PAD Poem Day 28

As we near the finish line of the November PAD Poetry Chapbook Challenge, I'm posting my response to the Day 28 Challenge: write a "what really happened" poem. I keep thinking of friends of ours who are going through a very rough time, and this prompt reminded me of their struggles. Again, it's very rough, but that's kind of what this challenge is all about. December is for revision, after all....

what really happened
it happened in autumn.
tears freckle her cheeks,
pain-choking sobs, deep and
slow and quiet, bloom forth.
while she rips herself
into papery shreds, he sits
seemingly unaffected,
untouched, whole, rounded.

perhaps he simply acts well,
convincing everyone that
he's got it all together
when he is just as fractured,
creeping forward just as feebly.
yet he keeps smiling while
she continues weeping blood
from wounds too deep to measure.

Copyright 2010 by Susanne Barrett

I only have two more poems to write for this challenge. Then comes the real challenge of this challenge: what to do with them all! I think I may be seeing a bit of a theme emerge, but all the poems need so much work. Aaaaacccckkkk!

Marching ever forward (I think),