#sadness
ENOUGHT LIGHT
When our heart is filled with sorrow and all we see is night
We begin to wonder…to question…if we’ll ever see the light.
If this dark cloud of sadness that surrounds us…will ever fade away.
If there will ever be a time we once again we’ll gaze upon the day.
Then somewhere in our darkness we behold a wondrous sight
as the light of one friend..one star…begins to shimmer in the night.
Before we know it another friend…another star has gleamed
and we realize, though it’s still dark, it’s not as dark as it first seemed.
Soon we notice our night is filled with stars
and we appreciate what the light of friendship can do
because without us ever noticing…
our star is shining too.
And though we understand there will forever be a darkness
accompanying what we say
and what we do…
we also know there is enough light remaining
that will help to see us through…
A VACANT ROOM
At first the sadness’s overwhelmed her…
It was with her everywhere she went
She couldn’t remove it’s ringing from her years
It’s taste
it’s feel
it’s scent
She knew if she was ever going to move on…
eventually she’d have to find
a way to deal with her sorrow…
a place for her sadness to be confined
She discovered a vacant room within her heart…
it magically opened one day
and slowly little by little she began
to pack her sorrow away.
She knows the sadness will revisit
but no longer does she fear
the moments it returns…
the moments it appears…
For those times when it seeps back out…
those feeling of sadness and doom
she will visit with them a while
then store them back inside this room.
Now she able to smile as she closes the door…
no longer is she mad…
for she remembers what made her so happy to begin with…
that now makes her so sad.
STILL SEARCHING
If you’re lucky enough to fall in love…to have love enter your life…
from your parents, your friends your relatives, your partner or your wife…
Once you have been blessed …and that seed of love is planted
you cherish every moment……you take not a thing for granted.
For over the years there is a truth…a lesson about love that you’ve learned:
how it feels wonderful it when you give it…and even more wonderful when it’s returned..
And you truly believe that this feeling will forever be extending
never giving a thought that your love story has an ending.
You get so involved in love
in its mystery, its excitement and it’s laughter
that you think the only way your fairy tale will end
is happily ever after.
But when someone you love stops loving you
when they say they’ve had enough
or when a loved one dies…or for whatever the reason
the road turns from smooth…to rough
you find yourself crying and moaning
and you hope
and you wish
and you pray…
because in your heart you know that fairy tales
aren’t supposed to end this way.
Then somehow with the help of your friends,
your siblings, your father and your mother
you discover the end of one fairy tale
can be the beginning of another.
So you jump on your white horse
and with your injured soul
and your heart in need of mending
you turn to the next page of your Fairy Tale…
in search of your happy ending.
IN THE ANGEL'S ARMS
So many questions in this world we cannot answer…
No one can tell us why…
Why do tragedies happen everyday?
Why do children have to die?
This is the story of one child…
I wish I was singing a happier tune
but this child’s story is over…it ended much too soon.
She did not enter this world peacefully…although her birth was a joyous day
there were complications from the beginning…and more obstacles along the way.
Her story ended a few days ago…at least now she’s out of harm…
She has a place in heaven…she’s in the angel’s arms.
Her parents handled each setback with dignity…with courage…and with grace….
as they tried to cope with the kind of heartache no family should face.
There were trips to hospitals and surgeries…so much going on inside her
and her parents shared her pain and suffering as they stood stoically beside her.
It is a testament to their love…that as they suffered through the haze…
in the midst of all their sorrow…they found joy in other ways
For they loved their little daughter…that was plain for all to see
and they did the best they could to give her life some harmony.
I hope as the years go by…when they stop
when they pause a while…
they will remember more of the joy than the suffering…
and when they think of her…
they’ll smile.
Perhaps one day their questions will be answered…
when they join their daughter…out of harm
when they hold her again heaven…
when they’re together…
in the angel’s’ arms.
Broken Pieces
THAT'S WHAT DADDY WOULD HAVE WANTED
WHAT DADDY WOULD HAVE WANTED
A teacher found a weathered copy of her poem…
And immediately reminisced…
for never had he read a poem…as sad or beautiful as this:
“I want you all to write a love poem,” He told his class,
“For love is beautiful…and grand…”
when he was interrupted by a student…who quickly raised her hand.
“My daddy was killed by a crazy person with a gun.” she said.
“How can I contemplate…
words of love and joy…
when I’m filled with so much hate?”
He had anticipated many questions…but this one…he never guessed…
He walked over, put his arms around her…and hugged her to his chest.
“When hate is all around us”, he said…”when bullets rain down from above…
That is the time we must fight hate…and search for words of love.”
“Look into your heart.” he said, ‘words of love are waiting there
words of love you will discover…words of love you’ll want to share.”
He returned to his desk amid silence…and during the interlude
the class all wrote their poems…in a quiet solitude…
He wasn’t sure what to expect until that night at home
when he came to her assignment entitled…
This Is My Love Poem
My daddy used to talk about love…before he’d turn off my light…
He said love is a wonderful way to start the day…and the best way to say goodnight.
So I will try everyday to think in words of love…no matter what my fate
hoping the words of love I find…will overcome my hate…
I hope someday to discover the love I’m searching for…
For hate has won this battle…but I won’t let it win the war.
Perhaps if words of love, instead of bullets, were falling from the sky
then love would finally vanquish hate…and no more Daddies would have to die.
Yes, hate has left me with a scar and my dreams will be forever haunted…
but I promise to try and look for love, because…
that’s what Daddy would have wanted.
TEARS
I saw a tear escape her eye…
when she whispered out his name
and I remember thinking why…
and wondering what tragedy she overcame.
She suffered a loss I did not know…
a loss she couldn’t disguise
It happened a long time ago…
I could see it in her eyes.
I imagine a tear is how our heart speaks
when we can’t find words to explain
when a memory has made us weak…
when we’re overcome with pain.
I wonder when we hold back our tears…
suppress even one teardrop
If it’s because we have a hidden fear…
once they start…our tears won’t stop.
That once the dam is broken…
and our tears start falling down
a terror goes unspoken…
that in our own tears…we will drown.
For suffering sometimes fall like rain…
a word, a smell, a thought can bring it on
and we’re reminded by our pain
how grief is not a sprint but a marathon.
Perhaps that’s why we have an ocean of tears…
for in any dark days we have ahead
when a memory stirs and grief appears
we’ll have unending tears to shed.
I wonder…how many of us harbor a fear
that at the end of any minute…any day
a relentless stream of our own tears
are but one memory away?
At the time I offered her a smile…
to give her strength for a sadness I’ve never known
knowing all the while
some griefs we’re meant to bear alone.
THE WEEPING WILLOW TREE
They found the owl…this morning…”Look!” the young boy said.
On the street in front of their house…a little owl was dead.
“What are we going to do?” the boy asked as he got down on one knee.
“We’re going to take a walk”, Dad said, “to the weeping willow tree.”
He reached down and picked up the owl…as gently as could be
then they walked down to the lake and sat under the willow tree.
“It’s time you learned this tree’s secret.” Dad whispered. “Shhhh…don’t make a peep
It is only in the silence one can hear the willow weep.”
The son’s face beamed when he finally heard it and he asked his father…”Why?
Why is this tree so sad…what makes the willow cry?”
When we feel pain or sorrow, when we’re hurt or when someone we know dies….”
“These are some of the reason”, Dad said, “some of the reasons why we cry.
"But when a rock or tree or a little owl dies…who is there to moan?”
“Who is there to weep when parts of nature die alone?"
“That is where the willow comes in…with this job she has been blessed.”
“While we weep for those we know and love…she weeps for all the rest.”
“When a tree falls in the forest, when a baby owlet dies,
when a rivers dries up or a star stops shining…this is when the willow cries.”
So the little boy and his dad picked up the owl…as gently as can be
and buried her in silence…under the shade of that willow tree.
“She will be well protected here.” Dad said. “our promise to nature has been kept.”
and in the silence of that moment…
they joined with the willow
while she wept.
WHEN SOMEONE WE KNOW DIES
There is no cure for the sorrow we feel
(It’s one reason that we cry)
no antidote for the pain
when someone we know dies.
We immediately wonder why her…why now…
how we would have loved just one more day
one more moment…
one more memory
when someone we know passes away…
Our mind flashes back to certain moments…
wonderful memories we linger on
as the joy we feel for having known her
mixes with the sadness that she’s gone.
Our memory happily jumps back and forth.
We give thanks she was ever sent to us
and we hope and pray she understood
everything she ever meant to us.
We couldn’t have created a better friend
If we had planted seeds ourselves then grown her
and we know our lives will never be the same
and we are better people…having known her.
So we are content to grieve a moment…
knowing in our hearts she wouldn’t mind…
knowing the sadness we feel today
will acquiesce to the joy she left behind…
Yes, today we’ll allow sorrow to envelop us
we’ll linger in our tears a while
knowing in the future
every time we think of her
with every memory…
we’ll smile.