A Psalm of Shared Loss

They had names.
They had faces.
They had lives.
They had homes.
They had dreams.
They had families.
They had wisdom.
They had goals.

Parents of …
Children of …
Siblings of …
Companions of …
 
Partners of …
Lovers of …
Neighbors of …
Friends of …
 
With them in the world
There was a light,
Now extinguished.
 
Without them in this world
A glimmer of hope
Is diminished.
 
With them in the world
There was a dream,
Now unspoken.
 
Without them in this world
Hearts that were full,
Have been broken.
 
We mourn …
We cry …
We weep …
We wail …
 
We sob …
We rage …
We moan …
We rail …
 
They once knew love.
They once breathed air.
They once felt rain.
They once could care.
They once could crawl, could walk, could run.
They once had stories, had futures, had fun.
They once had lives, like bright burning flames.
They once had faces, they once had names.

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