Poem For Alysia

For Alysia

A moment in time,

never to be recalled.

A sunny, dimpled smile,

extinguished in a moment of inattention.

A family, destroyed.

A mother heart-broken,

A father shamed, guilt-wracked, haunted,

A marriage annihilated,

a baby's light snuffed out.

We weep for you, dear child,

for the possibilities now gone,

your laugh now silent,

for what might have been.

For your father, strength I offer,

to endure those long, cold, lonely nights

that lie ahead;

hours of self-doubt and self-recrimination,

a slippery slope to despair, hopelessness,

drunkenness and death.

For your mother, a benediction,

a salve upon her broken heart

and strength, too, to go on,

as a mother must,

broken heart and all.

To your brother and sister,

surcease I offer,

sweet dreams,

where only nightmares

now dare to tread.

To the world,

only a memory

invoked by a head stone,

gray granite,

“Alysia Brown,

Aged 3,

Rest In Peace.”

Copyright ©2006 Wil Mosher

All Rights Reserved

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