Stained by Death by Thomas Walrod

Mirror smashed in the center of a bathroom                                                                                                                  stall that placed its shards                                                                                                                                                    deep within my fist.

A mixture of blood and sweat                                                                                                                                             flowing from the palm of my                                                                                                                                            hand that feels,                            nothing.

Frantically pummeling the broken                                                                                                                                    glass to rid the image of the person                                                                                                                                  who has done nothing.

Nothing to stop those he loved escape                                                                                                                              this world over an exact three year                                                                                                                                 episode of his life.

My hands filled with his glassy reflection                                                                                                                                     piercing deeper as the pulse of my                                                                                                                       heart  slowly                  stops.

I             a grown man                    in fetal                                                                                                                                         position.                            Wanting                                                                                                                        to feel the love               of the lost.

The bleach took away the blood                                                                                                                                      but his initials in blood can still be seen.

Thomas Walrod is a High School English teacher from Redwood City, California.  He graduated from Regis University’s Mile High M.F.A. program in Creative Writing in January 2020.  His favorite books to teach are: The 1818 Version of Frankenstein, Cloud Atlas, and As I Lay Dying.