(From December 2015)
i’d leave work late a lot of days,
he’d greet me by the door;
he worked security, night-shift,
right there on the ground floor
he was a talker, genial;
he’d ask about the day –
and wish us well till next time as
we’d set out on our way
a youngish man of roughly thirty
who’d just had a child;
his temperament was lively
and his disposition mild
he’d left the air force right before
he came to work with us;
his time in combat was the one thing
he would not discuss
the holidays are on us now,
the air grows cold outside;
and i just got the news
that he committed suicide
i do not understand, but feel
the sad and crushing weight –
i didn’t think
i never thought
and now it is
too late
