Twenty-One Today

I read about a mother who was haunted from time to time of shadows of what might have been. I sometimes feel that way myself, but no one ever is told what might have been, as Aslan says in the Narnia stories. We have to make the best of what we have...

Twenty-One Today

Time to celebrate, time for a birthday,
But the years cruelly snatched away
Most of the joy; you retain some still,
Despite everything, such a bitter pill;
It seems only yesterday, time long ago,
When you were young, all promise so;
And that fateful jab, when barely two,
In the diary it was there, the fever too;
At the time, we thought of this no more
And did not notice the closing of the door
Speech left, and only later returned little
How could we know sense was so brittle?
And now you don't speak, just nod for yes
And are you happy? No way really to assess,
No conversation, but sometimes still a smile,
Which is enough, and even once in a while,
The whispered voice, to speak a few words;
But then the door closes again, afterwards;
You will never be safe to cross the road alone
And who will care for you, when we are bone?
But I have hope, pray you enjoy your life,
Even if you will never marry, have no wife;
And today is twenty-one, key to the door.
The door that closed, and opens nevermore;
Can we heal a fractured world? Perhaps not so.
But when you smile, I feel hope's glow,
All manner of things shall be well one day
All shall be well, and that I pray.