The NaPoWriMo prompt is to write a sad poem using short lines, and the example given is a loose form of sonnet. I’ve already written a strict form sonnet, so this is an easier one, though the lines are probably too long to be considered ‘short’ and the theme is more regret than tragedy.
There are so many things I’d like to see
Before I leave this life,
So many things I’d like to be,
More than just daughter, mother wife.
There are still things I want to do
With these hands, this mind
While they still work, I thought you knew—
Perhaps familiarity and love grew too entwined.
I intend to dig down to the heart
You’ve never understood through all these years
And shape my clay with my own art,
If there’s still time for more than angry tears.
But my sands sift as fast as for the others,
The unfulfilled daughters, wives and mothers.