Beautiful Shadow on A Yearbook's Page
to: Na’jeir and his family love: Matt Francis how do you say hello to those new unyielding eyes whose hope is set in you yet can't tell you why he cries how do you say what love is when you've never felt so much for these little feet that mark the street where sidewalk chalk has smudged how do you say it’s all right when he wakes up with his fears though you feel so insecure as you wipe away his tears how do you say great job though he missed the winning shot tomorrow swells with hopes new smells as potential stirs the pot how do you say I love you as he takes his teacher’s hand he looks so small in school’s great halls this seems uncharted land how do you say goodbye at the beginning of a life son, brother, student, friend his silence brings it’s knife how do you say a word to his name now etched in stone the weight of loss is too much cost sliced a void here in our home how do you say it’s all right to his classmates and his friends his smile that filled