I Had To Say No

50

A poem from “The Fix.”

 

1st Place 2008 Torino Award Winner for “Outstanding Poem”

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I saw you lying there, broken and sick,
You begged me for ‘help’.
I had to say no.

I saw you struggle with tormentors unseen,
You asked for ‘relief.’
I had to say no.

I saw you sick and hurting inside,
You asked me for ‘medicine.’
I had to say no.

I saw you imprisoned by chains not your own,
You asked me for ‘freedom.’
I had to say no.

I saw that you hated me for being so cruel,
You asked me to leave.
I had to say no.

I saw you slipping away from me,
Sacrificed to a god you never wanted.
I had to say no.

I saw you willing to trade your life
For the kiss of an addict’s needle.
I had to say no.

I saw how what you wanted
Would take you away from me.
How the demons that possessed you
Would claim you forever.
How you’d leave me alone
To face this world without you.
And I had to say no.