A Memorial

Facing the winding trail of humanity

I take a deep breath in and begin

Life has been taken

And life has been restored

Yet the two are not balanced

The hearts and souls of family and friends

Lay open, raw, bleeding

Two lives were taken

Young men at their prime

Children are lost forever

To the destruction of a curving bullet

I reach the circle of all my emotions

Of all humanity's emotions

Words fail me

As I bend down and silently weep

I weep for lives lost

Lives who will never love, lose, father children

Who will never live into old age, who will never-

But I am pulled back, a comforting hand reminding me ...

This winding road has not ended

So we walk again, and I look back towards the center

Three stones, three lives

One candle, one guiding light

And silently I hope for their peace

But I cannot bathe in my grief

For doing so means that I am wasting the life I still have

So I find my way out of the winding maze of humanity

It it easier, I can picture all the things they never did but I will do

And I make a promise to live the life I have

I can do no less

Life simply is, and living is a part of life

So I smile and decide how I plan to live

Before my life's light is taken too