Left To Live

By Emerian Mordrige

The next day I was still alive,
And I crept from my hiding place below,
To the bright shining deserted plane above.
The crows had all left, save one.
He stared motionless, at me in my miserable state.
I had survived the disaster then?
Or had I crossed over to the spirit realm?
His beady little eyes would not tell.
Left to live one more day, I wondered…
Was there ever such a thing as home?
And was I ever at peace there?
Memory, or what it had been called before that,
Served me no great service this day.
My method of destruction,
Proven worthless to ease the pain.
Footprints disappeared,
Semblance of belonging gone,
And here I was again, alone.
The land stretched out before me
As a challenge I would soon give in to.
Night was coming on as it always did.
I shivered to think of another day,
And the crow cawed my demise.

Published in "The Best Poems and Poets of 2003" Jan 2004.