Gone Too Soon

I didn't know you
as well as I should,
I considered you a friend,
though if I'm honest,
I wasn't much of one;
too often feeling
I didn't have the words
to offer support
when any words
would have done;

now you're gone
to a place
there's no coming back from,
any words I may have found
will remain unspoken,
this world doesn't seem real;

I can still hear your voice -
see you laugh -
if I stop to think
I can't fathom the emptiness
with you gone,
so I keep going;

I feel sadness for those who loved you,
but feel little in myself,
selfishly, I wonder
if I'm broken in my heart,
or have I accepted
the world is unpredictable,

I know there is nothing I could have done,
I know you were too young
to have your body give out,
to be gone;

I'll take your lesson to heart,
caring for those around me and myself,
living every moment
with the understanding
there is no promise of tomorrow

thank you