One Step Forward...

A Poem to My Molly

Five years old,

A portrait of innocence,

Of youth,

Of sheer happiness.

What is death to a child?

Nothing but a word –

A word that is never said,

A word that lacks meaning.

Until, that word becomes reality.

How can you be daddy’s little girl,

When your daddy is gone?

Stripped from you without a warning.

Taken from you in the middle of the night –

Stolen, robbed.

Now twenty-one years old,

A portrait of uncompromising strength.

Of hardship overcome.

From the abyss of loss

You have prevailed,

A model for

Owning grief.