Monday, April 12, 2010

The Alpha & Omega of Heartbreak




Life is an unbroken circle

Segmented by chapters of changes

We are born, we live, we die

Our energy is recycled back into the earth

If we are lucky, something remains of our time here:

A child, a published work, a difference in another’s life


Every death is followed by a new life

Somewhere…

But there is sadness in the knowledge

That the person we hold dear

No longer walks the earth

Even more sadness when they have been taken

From us instantly with no warning


My heart breaks for two recent deaths

One, a boy of 17 and the other

A young man of 19 who has lost his father

Both were unexpected, both are heart-wrenching


And there is always the back story-

The grim details of life that make the story of death

All the more poignant

The All American Football Star headed to Notre Dame

Literally the golden boy with the best of all possible futures ahead of him

Weeks away from graduation at a top Jesuit Boys’ High School

One costly mistake changes his life and the lives of so many around him

Forever….


Then there is the 53 year old father still living out his high school glory days

As the celebrated Football Star

Wishing his sensitive, poetic son would take an interest in sports

Battling through his son’s teenage years, not knowing how to deal with a depressed

kid who self-mutilated away the pain of existence

Now relishing in the transformational change in maturity that college brings

To their new relationship

They become close, only to lose each other once again

Forever….


So much sadness amid the bright hues of spring:

Red tulips, purple crocus, tender green leaves, yellow dandelions

The reminder that life is reaching up, out of the ground

Sending its tentacles skyward toward the sun


You see, the seasons go on, despite the grieving

Life is an unbroken circle

Segmented by chapters of changes

We are born, we live, we die

Our energy is recycled back into the earth

If we are lucky, something remains of our time here:

A child, a published work, a difference in another’s life

Or the silent observer who knows the back story…….


Deep within the St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter of New Orleans

A candle burns brightly carrying prayers for these men skyward.

4/12/10









Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2010

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