Red Sea

You left us on Saint Valentine's Day I barely knew you A shrouded mystery Speechless and private Yet so many images of you haunt me Fear-ridden gaunt face Blood rushing into your chest There was no baby in that pregnant sized belly A body unrecognizable You were in visceral crisis a red sea swooshing inside would soon be set free How could this be? I barely knew you DJ But I wanted to A woman scholar my age Black and beautiful So much I would never understand Fluid was suffocating you Unconscious while your body was hemorrhaging Did you feel love on this your last Valentine's day? Privacy was honored Even those who loved you didn't know Until you were gone after a red sea flowed vigorously out of you Rather than rhythmically within Death was inevitable And yet you never wanted to discuss it Did we honor your privacy or did we read you wrong? Now, your silence haunts me