My hope for this year
Is that it will not follow suit and disappear
I watch as the same patterns unfold
And before I know it, I'm thirty-one years old
My birthday cake brings some much needed cheer
But my candles are blown out by pandemic fear
Connecting with no-one
Has left us undone
So we focus on what we can control
The happiness that is our daily stroll.
I woke up this morning to thirty-three
Surrounded by love and precious family
Yet tears of sadness steadily flowed
As grief and loss are such a heavy load
The day you and I would always share
Is now bittersweet, incomplete and unfair
What colour are the balloons in heaven
To celebrate a man of thirty-seven?
And as I lift my glass in apathetic cheer
My only wish is that you were still here
A stark reminder that life is brief
Love is eternal but time is a thief
So as I blow out my candle's flame
I know birthdays won't ever be the same
Today’s anniversary marks ten years
A boundless collection of bottled tears
Yet there is beauty in time and its ability to heal
As we learn to grow around the grief we feel
There are days it becomes impossible to fathom
As our hearts gape open with a you-sized chasm
And others are simpler and we feel a little lighter
Holding onto each other just a tiny bit tighter
My greatest fear is that I may gradually forget
The moments between goodbye and the day we met
So your name is interwoven into our daily conversation
And your life story reads like a beautiful narration
What I would do to share one last memory
A stark reminder that this life is temporary
Our lives have been forever changed
Dismantled, marred, and re-arranged
Yet we have no choice but to continue on
As we remember a brother and a precious son
Your little sister became a mother
The love of your life married another
Mom and dad nearly couldn’t cope
But were saved by grace and now live in hope
So I cast my mind back to your final day
Huddled in a hospice room as we started to pray
We held your hand as you took your last breath
And watched you gently transition from life to death
We keep our faith because we believe
That joy and dancing awaits those who grieve
So we yearn for that day our sorrow is no more
As we are welcomed home to eternity’s shore
(Written in honour of my brother, Wesley, on his 10th heaven anniversary)
For there is no word more precious than 'mother'
A woman so effervescent, and like no other
Biologically you may have birthed but two,
Yet look at how many you have, and will, accrue.
You heard my heartbeat from inside your chest
And loved me at my worst and not just my best.
What I cherish most is your willingness to listen
Is that not love's very definition?
Your childlike nature and quick-witted tongue
Has kept you youthful, kept you young.
Your path has been peppered with much heartache
Yet your faith stands firm, refusing to shake.
When I look into your eyes, I see such delight
As your soul shines through - how bright, that light!
So, as you take another trip around the sun
Remember that there is no-one like you.
No, not one.