Spring brings new growth
though it’s hard to find life
beneath a barren landscape
still dotted with patches of snow
and damp clusters of last year’s dead leaves
I shiver as an icy March wind
whips through skeletal trees

They are gone
Taken by the harsh winter winds
Never to return with the spring
Never to feel the summer sun warm upon their faces
nor to see the fall foliage
as they cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame
They will never celebrate another Christmas

Winter has not yet broken its hold
Yet there are signs of hope
Windchimes sing in the wind
Songs of promise
in my father’s voice
A scent of my mother’s perfume on the breeze
as the air grows slightly warmer

I see them in my children
I feel them everywhere
In the ache in my heart
and in the tears rolling hot down my cheeks
I mourn their loss
Will the pain ever end?

Days grow longer
Easter pastels line store shelves
Reminding shoppers of
Spring
Rebirth
Life

Life goes on
Though there is pain and loss
Life does go on
Those who we have lost do live on
In our hearts
And in our memories

(Dedicated to my parents, Ray and Diana Borus, who passed away February 2021)