Across the Street

A poem about life and death.

Beyond the rusted garden gate
There lay a young child's toy
Carelessly used and thrown away
A reminder of lost joys

The twisted weeds have now crept up
The house stripped of all its color
In the yard lay three broken cups
No longer able to hold in water

But everything from the house to the toy
Ingrained within their being
Are thoughts of the couple and the boy
Who had given them their meaning

The house remembers the sound of prayer
The toy misses the boy's thrill
The yard longs for careful care
The cup yearns for ice's chill

But the family had left long ago
On that fated summer drive
Leaving all their things to show
The happiness when they were alive