Yesterday was the third anniversary of my brother's death, so untimely, so utterly and terribly wrong. It fills me with indescribable sadness remembering the phone call from my weeping mother. The shock of the news, of that very moment that I heard he had been shot, is etched in my memory like a fresh wound that still requires staunching after these few years. And as then, today, I remember my sister-in-law, her pain, her strength and her love; I remember their children, their eyes filled with a novocained numbness and deep loss. I remember...
Today I wrote these unfinished lyrics that still require a melody, perhaps it never will come..
For G.
When so quickly you left us
Did your spirit return to the sun
Did it burn up as you flew closer
And have you become One
Do I see you at sunrise
When the mist clears away?
Or are you a shadow that lingers
And are you waiting your turn?
There are no surprises
In life’s deathly dance
We’re here for a moment
While you stay in this trance
Don’t hold on too tightly
To the memory of pain
We are here briefly,
Then gone again
Fly through the sunrise
Like a bird or a star
The earth is below us
So near yet so far
We are everlasting soldiers
In life’s deathly dance
Will you come back and find us
Will you take one more chance?
Sing your song sweetly
Sing your song sad
The strings are unbroken
Words remain unspoken
I will sing this song for all who have lost someone to violence, to all those who believe in the everlasting existence of spirit, and love.
