Do You Hear Me?


We live, we love, we lose. 
       we grieve. 

It is said that time heals sadness, 
    but life ongoing  
seems undestined to oblige.  
A child traveled down the road, 
  helpless, frightened, and alone. 
Life, now torn and tattered,  
   incomplete, forever changed. 
You departed the world abruptly,   
           life’s unfinished task.

To never see your smiling face, 
   nor watch you grow and love. 
No graduation, no marriage, no children. 
     Taken in the prime of life,
 a question with no answer.  

No bucket list 
   no sun kissed days.
Longing for a final chance
   to touch your face, to hold your hand 
to hug you dearly. 
But life, with its cruel twists and turns,     
   plays on without you. 

Walking the beach 
   alone,  
I feel compelled to reach 
  for a handful of warm sand. 
Strolling, the sand slowly  
    slips away 
disappearing with the wind                                                                         

You come to mind, and I                 
     smile, at the reality   
that no one ever walks alone.

Like sand slipping through fingers 
   on a crisp Fall day,
       we are mere visitors to this life. 
 
Left behind,  
we watch the coarse grains
 sift slowly to their destiny.
An unkind twist of fate 
   has taken you away. 
But you live on,   
   forever in our hearts, 
         and in our minds.                                                                      

Warm sand 
   slowly turns to cold. 
But for the mother 
   who nurtured this soul on earth, 
 Memories of a child so dear,
           transcend eternity.

As I sit in the silence 
    I wonder 
Do you hear me 
    when I cry at the thought of you? 
Do you hear me 
    when life is overwhelming and 
         I sigh profoundly? 
  Do you hear me 
     when I call your name 
          in the dark of night?

We grace this world 
    in a most temporary way 
 One child dies 
     another takes its very first breath 
                    in the circle that is life.
                                                                                                                                                    

This poem is inspired by the untimely death of Christina Atkins. 
#KeysforChristina

© 2013 Romancing the Herd.  All rights reserved.