Letter Poem

Dear Ashley
I have heard so much of you
As my fingers flirt with my pen
I craft these words for you
I hope my lines are read
As I write my eyes are red
Because it hurts to know that you secretly weep
And wipe the tears you shed

You cloak your pain with a fake smile
Your joy is far away, it's on exile
Your mood's been on the playground
Your mood swings
You wish you grew wings
So you could fly away from all the hurt
To a place where pain is naught

The one you loved you lost
It is hard for you to trust
You've died a thousand times within
Your fragile heart is crushed
Oh Ashley, I hear you fear the dark
My sentiments exactly
Some days I feel the shadows will attack
I fear too, but Ashley I like to dare too
To believe I could spark a fire inside me
That will light me so brightly
The darkling runs to hiding

Ashley, I heard you messed up badly
Do not treat yourself harshly
I heard it's been hard for you to forge ahead
I heard your head is hung low
You've watched your friends become foes
Oh Ashley! This life is kung fu
We fight, giving up is what we don't do
I thought you might have known of the highs and lows

Ashley, as we navigate through this crazy life
This thing we all feel
We all see, we can all relate
Like gunshots, bullets penetrate
Whether you are twelve year old or sixty eight
Whether you are a commoner or highborn
Heartbreaks are like thorns
They pierce you when they have too
They don't regard you

This is what makes us human Ashley
That we have some brittle parts
And behind stolid masks
We have feeble hearts
We can shed a tear because things can tear us apart
We can fall a thousand times and stand up tall again
And then fall again
Ashley, we lose or gain

And so forget the ashes, Ashley
Fight for your life
Be weak when you must
But be strong for yourself
Or you will be dead before your life really ends

All things come to a finish
Even a delicious cake or a good pie
Same with distressing and cruel times
Everything eventually reaches their goodbyes
So Ashley, goodbye
I hope my words reach you in good time
Write me sometime
So long Ashley, so long