Every Storm Cloud in Your Mind

Your coffee cup still sits where you left it—

Half-empty on the kitchen table.

I thought you were just having a bad day

When you said you couldn't sleep any longer.

But there was something in your voice that morning,

A quiet note I should have heard.

Now I replay every conversation,

Looking for the warning in your words.

What did I miss in your silence?

What didn’t I see in your eyes?

Were there signals in the spaces

Between your hellos and goodbyes?

I thought I knew all your shadows—

Every storm cloud in your mind.

But somehow, I missed the darkness

That made you leave this world behind.

Found your notebook tucked behind the mirror—

The pages filled with silent pleas.

While I was dreaming of our tomorrow,

You were already setting yourself free.

They say there's always something someone could've done,

But I was right here all along.

How did I not feel you slipping,

Until you were already gone?

What did I miss in your silence?

What didn’t I see in your eyes?

Were there signals in the spaces

Between your hellos and goodbyes?

I’d give anything to go back,

To that last morning in our bed—

To hold you just a little longer,

And say all the things left unsaid.

But all I have are questions,

Echoing through empty rooms,

And this guilt that keeps on asking,

What could I have done for you?

What did I miss in your silence?

What didn’t I see in your eyes?

Were there signals in the spaces

Between your hellos and goodbyes?

I thought I knew all your shadows—

Every storm cloud in your mind.

Now I’m lost here in the darkness

That made you leave this life behind.

Your coffee cup still sits where you left it.

I can’t bring myself to move it away,

’Cause it’s the last thing that you touched here

On that ordinary final day.

Alan Simpson