Last Time Poem by Elisabeth Perry

You take your last breath for the first time
of the fowl air that you breathe
last time you breath in the smoke
last time you make someone else bleed
you think your intakes affect you and no one else
you have a life depending on your well-being
being incubated in your womb
the fowl air that you breathe she breathes too
you have a life depending on you well-being
being incubated in the next room
in the small house that you share
the fowl air you share too
did you ever take the time to say
sweetie I care about you?
maybe if you noticed
you could notice her wounds too
her wounds that tell a story of every time you disappoint her
and remind her to not forget
to not let it happen again
'this one's for you mom,
when you didn't help me find a dress for prom
and this one mom,
when you asked my boyfriend to share a hit from your bong.'
now the scars spiderweb across her arms
you know the story behind your coldness
from your breathing in the fowl smoke
that harms you brain
now your son is 13 years
as he sheds his own tears
from being the mistake you call him
over and over he hears
he takes the blade from the drawer
choosing the same as his sister
but he chose the more extreme
with his sister gone now he takes all of your wrath
he sits down with his blade
to begin his blood bath