Lessons learned. . .

Sunday, January 9th, 2011

Morning sun
streaming steady through
my winter cold window.

This dawning day cloaked in question
life or death?
Too many hanging in the balance.

What child, once baby swaddled,
   can grow to snuff out dreams?
What slip of notice was required?
What nuance of disturbance ignored?
   What deep need went unseen?
What dark seed planted, nurtured
and grown?

Deep relief that one so vital, courageous and
   bright
can squeeze fingers, can move limbs.
Yet the dark cloud of a small, young life
   taken in flash of bullet
hangs...and lingers...and swirls
filling recesses of my sad heart.

Hope is on the lips of many.
   Imagination stretched thin to think
Change. . .May. . .Come.
Somber tones try to soothe the wound.
    Will lessons learned linger long enough?
Our lasting long-lived scars silently stand watch.
Too faint,  I fear, for rising. . .hateful. . .din.

- sandy b donn