by: Shirley Satterfield
Good to Be Alive
I used to think about committing suicide a lot. But now I’m glad that I’m still alive. I am glad to hear the birds sing in the morning, and I am glad that I get to prune my rosebush and that I am able to fill my house with inexpensive Walmart flowers. I’m glad that I can do little random acts of kindness for those who are less fortunate than myself, and also to be able to wash dishes for my husband Danny and to be able to give him the best life he ever had. And I am also glad that I lived to see the computer age in which life is now a more even playing field and the world is no longer tipped solely toward the rich and well connected and also that I can write my poetry and self publish my books, not just for myself but for others also. For I do not want to live in a world of only one person; I want to live in a world of one person and everybody else. So I am glad that I am alive and that I did not commit suicide. It always pays to wait on God to make things better.
Inside my mind you stay
months lost alone apart
each attempt killed me
no way out of my horror.
Your past another one
you have a beautiful mind
but no one could save
your childhood’s end.
Days between suicide
attempts to keep you
darkness closes thought
you are so loved & wanted.