For Sandy Hook

Tears fall like flower petals.

Nothing left but a dry stalk of pain in the heart,

And once that is tossed aside, as it must be,

The heart is still an empty vessel,

Holding only the question WHY.

Tears fall like flower petals,

Washing up memories, washing away the immediate ache.

Once dried, petals pressed remain

A pretty picture, a sweet cache of fragrance.

Time beside the tears, healing the hurt slowly.

Tears fall like flower petals,

A remembrance of a presence

Once alive, now gone forever.

Yet the sweetness remains,

Tenderly growing peace in the heart.

© Anne Cressin, 2017

Rose memorial for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Photo by Alexisrael
from Wikimedia Commons