I Wake Early – 16th November 2025

I wake early with a feeling

Of emptiness, which is soon

Filled with anxiety

I don’t know why until

I begin to write and

Realise the date

Twenty-two years since you left

And yet it is only yesterday

Lying in a generic hospital bed

The air filled with hope and despair

I wasn’t ready to let go

I’m still not even as I approach

The age that you were

I wasn’t ready for the devastation

That would be left in your wake

None of us were

But in the middle of such overwhelming sadness

I hope that I am softer

Calmer

More forgiving

And more like you

Anniversaries are often hard to deal with, especially when related to loss. I have a tendency to forget dates but my body doesn’t.

She would have loved the boy.

© John Monaghan 2025. All Rights Reserved