Death in Stages - Shock

*first in a series of three for Shem Rider (Thorne the Red)

Let it be a joke.
Please!
A mistake.
There's your name in the headlines,
and my heart on the floor.
Tears flow quickly.
Cannot see.
Cannot breathe.
Cannot process...
process...
process...
you not being here,
a phone call away.
I keep screaming
NO!
As if the word could hold the power
to erase events,
rewind time.
Despite my mind knowing better,
my heart can come up with
nothing
more to say.