"If We Had Known"
April 22, 2008
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[RIP]
"If We Had Known"
If we had known all that we know
We never would have let him go.
He never would have reached the river
If we had guessed his going. Never.
We had the stronger argument
Had we but dreamed his dark intent.
Or if our words failed to dissuade him
Unarguing love might still have stayed him.
We would have lured him from his course.
And if love failed, there still was force.
We would have locked the door and barred it.
We would have stood all night to guard it.
But what we know, we did not know.
We said good-bye and saw him go.
–Robert Francis
Tags:
poetry, readings, rip, robert francis
All me-stream all the time.
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April 28th, 2008 at 5:18 am
I believe that suicides who were stricken with severe mental illnesses are, like racehorses with blinders on, driven by a force they can not see, let alone control. And while we must place primary responsibility on individuals for their actions and the impact they have on others, my own information suggests that there is a point where the illness so consumes every rational action and reaction that suicide appears to be the absolute and only decision. If that state persists beyond minutes without external intervention, I can only be grateful if the outcome is anything but death. I grieve for the families and friends who lose sons, daughters, sisters, and brothers from this compulsion, and I still grieve for myself, who am bereft of two high school chums, one of whom was an unbelievably motivated, creative, hard-working, and brilliant linguist; I thrived off of him.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:46 am
I agree wholeheartedly, having been there and grieve for the loss of your friends as well.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Should also note that I’m too close to the feelings right now to even think about writing my own poem about it. Odd feeling.