You are gone now
and your hushed suffering
was dissolved in the quiet
ceasing of your breath,
as your body quit the
futile game of living
ready to be scattered
in the stillness of eternity.

Your life was followed
by a dark presence that
stalked you from your
youth and bound you
slowly across the years
till you were taken by
this force as strong and
as cold as steel, by this silent
presence that stopped your
feet from running free.

O how I wish that your
life had found another way,
and your reluctant smile
was turned towards happiness,
but the shadow’s dark and
pointing hand was insistent,
and so you found the only path
that ended in a solitary cell.

If I could have given you just
a bit of the freedom I enjoy,
I would have joyfully, fully,
but that is not how life works,
for it is a strange game played only
with the choices and resources
we have in our pockets, and
your pockets were entirely
empty, for the presence took
it all and left you nothing
but the ceaseless hours
on the steady, moving hands.

Still, in your cage of steel
without a key that had
became your life, there was a
kindness that shone beyond
captivity and brought colour
to those who knew you, and
they saw the good as a tiny light
that defied the dark shadow,
flickering in gentle moments,
and showing a glimpse of you,
even in the silence of the night.

 

for my brother, Dennis

 

12/2/2024