Shining Star

Shining Star

over seventy sextillion observable stars

in the night sky glimmer

now, one more.

for you, all extinguished

by one cruel twist of fate

he was your beloved

your promise – your future

the chalice of your dreams

your shining star

now...gone.

life is a cruel puppeteer

we, its marionettes

it gives and takes without regard

for our wishes…

like a petulant child

he was handsome…

your loveliest gift

lustful gleam in a father’s eye

apple of yours

now...gone.

don’t try to seek sense in this

frustration’s what you’ll find

who plucks a blossom

before its bloom

will you forget

never…

how can you

his memory ensconced in drumming heart

etched in memories bittersweet

there he has always been - will ever be

a constant source of laughter and tears

joy and sorrow, interwoven, is life

how can we forgive

and if we dared, who

there is no culprit here, though we want there to be

something or someone to bear the blame

some culprit to point at and scream

“...BASTARD…!”

but there is no one...nothing!

it isn’t right

we know

a beautiful boy

future within his reach

poised to blossom and delight

as he always had

no explanation why

he wouldn't stay

it isn’t right to be bereft

for no good reason

is there an end to tears

never…

your eyes will dry

your grief, a raw and open wound

will heal…

how do you carry a weight so unbearable as this

you stow it away, piece by piece

where kept, your priceless things

assuage your pain in love lavished

on us who struggle yet…

it isn’t right that he’s gone

it was his choice, not yours

had you chosen, he’d be here

he is free from life’s vexing and, ironically,

a reminder of it.

his life, now, one more bright star in the sky

shining down on us

illuming our way