WEDNESDAY THOUGHTS: POETRY PROMPT

There it is again. It’s the same feeling I’ve had when so many other beloved, talented, funny, famous strangers passed away. 

We get teary-eyed, and hurt momentarily, because our lives had been kissed by their gifts—sometimes since childhood. 

We don’t have to make any plans, or handle affairs. We just express our sorrow, and offer condolences. We smile because we can always reach for a CD, DVD, or log on to YouTube, or a classic TV station and see them, and be entertained all over again. 

In a way, they’ll always be around. That makes us grateful. God knows, we need laughter, and nostalgia.

 THAT STRANGE CONCERN

Every day, eyes close, never to reopen

If only words could change things

"I'm so sorry!"

"Oh no!"

"What a shame."

"I'll pray."

But, there are those

Whose passing seems wrong

Too sudden

Too soon

They were supposed to stay forever

They were good

They belonged to all of us

Or, so we thought

What will we do without them?

They were special

Yet, we never wrote or talked

We only knew them from afar

There's no real tie at all

So, why are our hearts still aching

As if some part of us is missing?

Whatever they did filled some space

Some time

Some era of our lives

They made us feel proud, have hope, laugh, applaud, cry

Thank God they weren't too shy 

or selfish to share their gifts

They just gave

And never knew if we received it, or not

They shined

And never knew our days were made brighter

We hear they're gone, and tears well up

There's that heavy sigh, again

Stunned silence

It stings a little

"I wish I could have told them..."

"Did they know how much we loved them?"

"How could they not know?"

Then, we seek the company of others

Who'd laughed, and cried, and thanked God, too

"What happened?"

"Did you hear?"

We remember our favorite moments of theirs

And demand answers that aren't ours to know

We wonder, speculate, and embrace the sadness

And wipe the odd tears that fall

We sing, hum, and play the familiar songs

We recite our favorite lines

Things seem so unbalanced- so off course, so unfair

With so many evil scoundrels around, causing so much grief and harm

Why them?

Not THEM

Wait. 

Why do we even care?

Does this thing have a name?

This odd, strange, and deep concern

For someone we don't even know?

Is it merely empathy?

And even if ugly truths are told

What will we do with the details?

Will we love them any less?

We mourn the faces of strangers

Glossy, projected images 

Amplified sounds

Choreographed movement

The beautiful people—

But ordinary people, just the same

Souls, so talented and gifted

But they never even knew our names

Still, they go, and we hurt

For a little while

And then, in an instant, we're okay

We can always see their faces

We can always hear their voices

They left behind enough to keep us occupied

More would have been nice

But we're satisfied

Soon, we go on as if nothing happened

While the real pain is in their loved ones' eyes:

Their parents, spouses, children, and true friends

The strange concern soon ends for us

because we didn’t know THEM.

VRW