The Fallen

©2018
The walls of love can’t do enough to
keep the bullets out
But maybe they can keep the slivers of hope inside and safe
No stories different here
Than the ones we are told yet again
In a blinding flash of rage and angst
And hoaxes
Splayed like blood stains on the memory of
The fallen

Drifting across an endless ocean of condolences
And “What the fuck can we ever do to change this?”
Is the memory of the fallen child
Who you used to take to school
In the carpool with the other screaming kids
You hadn’t had your coffee yet
And it was hard to go about your day
With all that wild maelstrom in your head
And then you arrived at school
And they piled out, running fast to join their friends
Except your kid, who turns and looks at you with a “Yeah, I know” look
And it’s all worthwhile
‘Cause they’re safe in school
And you’ve rediscovered the gift of silence

But it’s much too silent now
Except for the phone calls
And the reporters
And those who bring you food
Because there is crushing silence now
A silence so loud that there is
No place where you can simply prepare a meal
For your family
That is now missing a place at the table

Where do we go from here?
How do we place a setting at the table when we don’t know
How many fewer people will come
Those walls of love are now
Here to hold our hearts in place
So we don’t break
Till the next time.

In the darkness and quiet of the house of the fallen
Is a door that leads to answers
On the other side of that door
If we truly look
We will find each other
In silence

 

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