I had an idea for a Dan poem and then thought, why not write a character poem for all of Next to Normal? I wrote one for everyone in the Goodman family and also Henry. My poems are amateur at best, though.


Dan

What if you lose your mind

At the same time

As the one you love

Rushing to hide the break

For the sake

Of the one you love

So no one knows both are unstable

So you lie and hide

Even though the break may be fatal

Yet the one you love

Pushes you to push things away

Hide the torment and the pain

To be okay for the one you love

Natalie

Perfect is a piano piece

Not a person or a romance

Perfect only belongs to tests

Tests, and pieces, and problems

All things you can completely get right

But people and romances and families

Cannot be perfect

Not at the beginning or end

Or when people look back

But the pieces we get to play

The pieces tested by time

And written by imperfect dead guys

Those can be perfect

And that's as close as we'll get

Diana

I hope you find something that lasts

Or that you have the strength to leave

I hope you never lose again

Or that you have the strength to grieve

I hope you keep your sanity

But try first to keep your heart

I hope you have a happy end

But try first to have your start

I hope you will remember me

But let go if you must

I hope that we meet again

But I know I broke your trust

I hope your life is beautiful

Or that at least you live

I hope your heart can love again

Or that at least you forgive

Gabe

Everyone's breaking down always

I've seen it for sixteen years

In the shadows, I spend my days

Judging, taking notes

Breaking down myself

Losing every bit of hope

Am I the core of the issues

Or were they destined to fail?

I jeer and mock and taunt

But I want them to prevail

To beat the next break down

To be a little more okay

Because I've spent 16 years in a breakdown

And the devil just won't go away

Henry

I didn't ask for her

To be perfect

But I know

That I'm perfect for her

Because Screwups

Deserve Screwups

And we're perfectly screwed

We're disasters

That fit together

Not perfect

But perfectly determined to try

I don't want her

To be perfect

I just want her

To be mine