Gone

No one knows really how it happens, or that's what everyone pretends. Everyone knows how. It's a sickness, all agree. One day you're in your life, busy, connected. Family needs you for everything, and you provide it. Give, give, more give. Then, situations may suddenly change. People leave. You're all gived out, broke, then overlooked, forgotten. Everyone is eventually gone. You become ill, confused. Lose your home. Hospitalized. Released to a shelter, where you're attacked, twice, then you wander off. Can't return anywhere, then you slip anonymously into an urban twilight of shadow doorways, day by day, mental illness grips your waking hours like a secret enemy, or voices to battle. Nothing more matters. You're lost, absent, gone.