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Requiem All Too Repeated

by Chris Sorrenti


Scanning the pages of a local newspaper
in section C just after the want ads
the souls to be found there smile of full lives
except for one fresh faced youth

As the tragedy reveals itself again
in a few simple lines

Unexpectedly in her 28th year
on Sunday_______________
loving daughter of ________ and ___________
cherished sister of _____________
and best friend of ____________
she will be sorely missed by her grandfather
_________________
adored niece of __________ and __________
she will be fondly remembered by cousins
_________ , __________ and _________

Our dear__________ is finally free of her pain

A memorial service will be held
on ___________ at __________ on _________

In lieu of flowers
donations in _________s memory
to the ________ General Hospital Mental Health Unit
would be appreciated

Sadly
I'm sure at one time we've all been able to fill in the blanks


© 2007

2,550 hits as of March 2024



02/18/2007

Posted on 02/18/2007
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Michelle Angelini on 02/18/07 at 07:31 PM

Yes, we have Chris. When I read this I cried (am crying) because the one person whose voice I would love to hear has been silenced. Too many times we don't appreciate the people in our lives and when they're gone, they may be out of pain, but the shredding inside ourselves continues for a long time. Thank you for writing a beautiful reminder to love those in your life when they're still here.
~Chelle~

Posted by Gregory O'Neill on 02/18/07 at 07:32 PM

Whoever said you can write your own ticket, hadn't read that section of the paper yet. It's all the black-spaces that really end up mattering the most. Most interesting idea, Chris. Thanks.

Posted by Genevieve Sturrock on 02/18/07 at 07:58 PM

i lost several friends to suicide, alcohol related anctics and drugs...before i turned 21...filling in the blanks is easy, answering the questions left behind is hard. great write. thanks.

Posted by A. Paige White on 02/18/07 at 08:29 PM

Growing blankets of blanks. Recently in our state capital an eleven year old boy suicided. Not old enough to have learned how to really live, just old enough to learn how to want to die.

Posted by Maureen Glaude on 02/18/07 at 08:30 PM

Here I find we have an idea and format as eerie and gloomy as when people have their birth year put in advance on the stone marker at their plot, and the funeral people wait til their death for the completion of the dates. I try to avoid reading the obits as it is depressing and kind of nervewracking now as we get older, and besides, when I come across a child's or a young person's like this, it is such a shake up. Part of life, true, and of course I do sometimes look, but I'll focus on the happier sections for now. Well done.

Posted by Alisa Js on 02/18/07 at 10:50 PM

Reading through this, all that comes to mind is this universal truth...Yesterday has passed and is no more, tomorrow is not guaranteed .. all we have is today. With that in mind, let us celebrate life and loving....;-)

Posted by Maureen Glaude on 02/19/07 at 03:44 PM

Sorry, I meant to add that the point being made with the Mental Health Unit of the hospital was a wise way of "showing" not "telling" the cause of her demise, and there is a lot of compassion on your part in addressing these hard issues.

Posted by Gabriel Ricard on 02/19/07 at 05:13 PM

Very much so, man. Another classic.

Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 02/20/07 at 03:02 PM

Unique in technique and utterly true!

Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 02/20/07 at 03:02 PM

Unique in technique and utterly true!

Posted by Christel Crews on 02/21/07 at 05:52 PM

one is fortunate to be able to fill in all the blanks of those who love and care, no matter the struggle, this is ingenious in conception and in the creation, you've captured the heart

Posted by Joan Serratelli on 02/21/07 at 11:25 PM

Yes, sadly we all have had those blanks filled in; for friends and loved ones. Well thought out; a piece EVERYONE can relate to.

Posted by Dave Fitzgerald on 02/22/07 at 01:55 PM

I know one. Very moving indeed.

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