When a Child Dies
When a Child Dies
by Laura Summerville Reed
There can be no more summer days
When a child dies
The sun hangs in the sky
Only to blister our skin and
Remind us of the blinding pain
When a child dies
Trees are only dull wood
Or sharp twigs
But
Will
Bear
No
Fruit
The pregnant clouds are ripe with mocking thunder
But quench no thirst for the wilted stem
When a child dies
There is no summer grain to be harvested
When a child dies
All falls fallow in the field
The mockingbirds forget each song
And silence chokes in their throats
When a child dies
And we will wake in the morning
To the blinding sun
Or the thundering clap of the gathering storm
As each drops rays or rain on
Green leaves and petal’d blooms
We will eat our daily bread and
Drink this bitter cup
As the birds chime their trill songs
In the still air surrounding
The great gaping wound
That is a thousand
Newly pulled teeth from our hearts
Because a child died
LSR 2010©
