The woman in the Grocery Store

I saw a dead body in a grocery store

My friends don’t remember it as terribly as I do

The woman was wheeled out on a stretcher

Her mouth hung open and mine did too

I shared the trauma with everyone around me

But it seemed I was the only one left in disbelief

Months before I cried at all hours of the night

Rocking back in fourth in terrible fright

That one day somehow, I would cease to exist

I spent so much time slashing my skin

Hoping the blood pouring out would save me from my kin

I starved until I couldn’t stand

I refused the bedside nurse’s helping hand

I had a change of heart as my adulthood rolled in

I found passions and a reason to live

It brought on the anxiety of death trying to revive my sin

I have seen other bodies laid to rest

My two uncles passed and I could attest

I did not feel the same trauma

Their faces did not cause me to shake at night in my pajamas

I suppose they did not look real to me

Their skin was like porcelain smooth as can be

Gruesomely I wished to pick a piece of them off, to be sure they were human

My mother would surely be mad at what I would have done

But this woman, I did not know her name

Suddenly my life began to feel like a game

I stared at her, waiting to see a breath

Then I had realized what took her was death

I am sure the worker who found her was more traumatized

But I cannot shut down my surprise

For months I have cried

Realizing death is an ultimate demise

But this woman who I did not know

Creeps into my mind even though,

it was weeks ago