A boy stands beside his favorite dog,
The blood clotting around her neck,
Her sightless eyes staring up at the sun
As her master and friend cries silently beside her.
He turns his tear-stained face to the sky
In a silent plea, some might think,
To ask, “Why her? Why my dog? ”
But his sight is arrested
By the laborious flutterings
Of a broken-winged butterfly,
Struggling to make its way
To the top of a tall azalea.
He can almost hear it sigh
As it finally comes to rest,
Its broken wing folding awkwardly
And its good wing twitching with the wind.
The boy stares at the golden silhouette,
His face awash with tears,
And smiles.

A woman stands beside her husband,
The blood staining his left breast pocket,
His sightless eyes staring up at the stars
As his lover and companion cries silently beside him.
She turns her tear-stained face to the sky
In a silent plea, some might think,
To ask, “Why him? Why my husband? ”
But her sight is arrested
By a shooting star,
Its graceful, silvery tail lighting up the sky
As it rockets from one side of the cosmos to the other.
It turns the tears on her cheeks to diamonds,
Just for a single moment
Mixing with the red and blue of flashing lights,
And then it disappears, its journey never ceasing.
The woman stares at the place where it passed,
Her face awash with tears,
And smiles.

A man stands against the wall of his home,
The blood running down his arms,
His eyes soon to close from his self-inflicted wounds
As he mourns his own death with no one beside him.
He turns his tear-stained face to the sky
In a silent plea, some might think,
To ask, “Why me? Why my life? ”
But his sight his arrested
By a single pink rose,
A late bloomer amidst the fading petals
That glows with a soft, warm light of its own.
A bee lands lightly upon it,
Busying himself with his daily task,
And flies on, another day’s work done.
He reaches out and touches one petal gently,
Reverently,
His finger staining the very edge
A brilliant crimson.
The man stares at the blooming rose,
His face awash with tears,
And smiles.