NO GREATER PAIN

I know you mean well

But you don't understand

There are no words to explain.

Although on the surface,I may appear fine,

Remember I buried a child of mine

And there is no greater pain.

Grief is a taboo in our civilized world,

I despise this hideous game,

I must smile while going insane.

For God's sake a part of me died,

You can't imagine how often I've cried,

And there is no greater pain.

If I look well,

Or laugh when you joke,

You think I'm my old self again.

I'm raw inside, a shell of me,

The woman you knew can no longer be,

And there is no greater pain.

Look deep in my eyes,

Acknowledge my loss,

As my heart beats its hollow refrain.

I'm caught in a web of infinite whys,

I'll mourn for my son 'till the rest of me dies,

And there is no greater pain.

Madelaine Perri Kasden

Written In Loving Memory of Her Son,

Neill Perri,10/2/71-6/15/95

In:Levine M.First you Die,2004.Page 35