Independence Day

The fear is tightening
like dead cold lifeless fingers
around my fragile neck.

A murmur of memories
flooding in like the endless sea
Boundless and murky
with no way out.

That fear...
It is so pressing sometimes
I freeze
Like an empty shell of a doll
my eyes glassy and unreal
With tears frozen beneath the lids.

Her father is dead today
While others celebrate independence
She is a prisoner.

The leaves crumple into nothing and fade
BANG BANG BANG
skies flood with light and sparks
With every bang her eyes squeeze out water

A rose trampled underfoot
The red roses he grew by the house.
Now nothing remains of that garden
No trace of him either...

Only her memory is fresh
I watch her in wonder and pity
Sitting across the table from me
Calmly sipping her tea
While the brown of her eyes fills with pain.

Pain...
More real and penetrating
than death itself.

It numbs my trembling heart
O Lord how can I help her?
O Lord what agony it would be to lose her
I cannot bear the hurt
Who will bandage her soul
when we part?