Self-Inflicted Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Restricted with wanted wishes.
Yet kept confined by limits,
No longer found to comfort...
One's need to feel released.
And freed from a depleted life to live,
Takes desire to leave a dark place.

A light of life that expands its brightness,
Can only be accomplished by determination.
And a sacrifice done day and night.
Awaiting for the right time to find approval,
May happen if a brick wall is near and used...
To repeatedly hit one's head against.

However...
There is another alternative,
For one seeking to end a plight.
By just making a decision,
That an ending of a self-inflicted pain...
Relieves one of more grief to gain.

Although such action to take today,
May leave others unhappy...
To know their shared miseries,
Have stopped being embraced.
And those who have awakened,
To the cause of their headaches...
Are now thought to be less neighborly.

'Why have the neighbors stopped speaking to us? '

~It is rumored our happy appearances,
Have begun to offend and irritate them.
And now they are suspicious,
That their complaints with them we once shared...
Are no longer accepted to appreciate.~

'That's ridiculous.'

~I tried to tell them that.
But that just added more fuel to the gossip.
Now I hear we have been cheating on each other,
With secret lovers.~

'How do these rumors start? '

~I have no idea.~

'Why are you looking at me like that? '

~You don't seem to be upset at all,
By their accusations.~

'Well...
Let's pretend we are having a fight.
And bring it outside.
When the neighbors appear,
We will then take a bow.'

~To accomplish what? ~

'Your need to live life to appease the neighbors.'

~That's stupid.~

'Where are you going? '

~I'm going to put on my bathrobe.
And when I come yelling from the backyard,
You come out of the front door...
Screaming like a fool.
Grab my shoulders and shake me.
When the neighbors begin to appear,
We 'then' hug and take a bow.~