The Faces That I Knew

[tejas]

This is the first day I've been able to watch the news since Friday. I want to hold my kid, but she's across the country, so I have to wait until she gets home this week. I'm not much of a poet, but sometimes things bubble up and need to be said so I write them. I just very rarely share them. I feel the need to share this one. I'm putting it behind a cut for anyone else who is having trouble with having the tragedy in their faces at the moment.



The Faces That I Knew

I can't read the names
I can't see the pictures
The smiling cheerful faces
Eternally young
Eternally innocent
Lost to the world they would have helped create

I can't see their faces
They change to the faces I once knew
I can't read their names
They change to names I've known for years

The little ones in my mind are in college now
Scattered to the winds
And I want to hold them all
Feel their hearts beat
Smell their skin
Feel their breath on my cheek
Listen to their complaints as I hold them close

I remember the class trips to the zoo
The field days
The picnics
The Halloween carnivals
And I weep