A Hero Rides Away

A choreography of a higher power,
A documentary of love, will remain in the blinded minds
And heavy hearts—a mystery
Of falling golden leaves, twirling through blue omnipotence
Down to the earth to rest at the limited feet
Which later trudge to watch the fallen hero
Lie still at last—after he takes his final ride.
Tears streak and imprison stricken faces
Yet liberate for a while the pent-up
Anguish felt not only for today’s hero
But for the heroes gone away during
Their yesterdays.
Accumulation of love and fear and
Misunderstanding and acceptance
And loss bind neighbors and strangers
As one with just a glimpse of Heaven
As they try to save the moment
Yet wish they could forget this elimination,
Forget this presence of tragedy.
Young men with faces dappling red cry and
Struggle with carrying
The weight of one who will never hold
Such gravity in their lives again.
They become little boys again:
With such metamorphoses, why cannot they also summon their hero
To ride next to them again
Rather than be borne by the amassed strength
That they have gained under his guidance?
The blue and golden day bears
The sorrowful and laden hearts for the wife, the neighbors, the strangers,
The mothers, the fathers, the sisters, the brothers,
The sons, the daughters—and those boys— who
Cannot bear to carry them with their
Own endurance because knowledge of
How to endure escapes them.
Yet they do not need command of this mystery today:
The beautiful day holds and caresses them
As it sways them in the cradle of
The lightness of the breeze
Which causes the leaves to fall.

9 November 2012