Steve's Sestina

Severe March winds blow fiercely through the yard today,
carrying with them a deep chill.
Opening the door, I retrieve the daily newspaper.
Glancing at the headline, and then the accompanying picture,
disbelief, shock and then grief fall across my face.
Persian Gulf, Kuwait, explosion, tanker, the words burn in my mind.


Mental images race through my mind.
Is this really happening today?
Can the newspaper picture really be of that familiar face?
It brings up and down my spine a sudden chill,
as I look to the mantel and see the same picture.
Again, I read the headline and the story from the newspaper.


College athlete, Mass. Maritime graduate, family man says the newspaper.
Brother, father and friends all say what comes to mind.
The harsh reality of having only a picture
to lay in a final resting place today,
gives the grieving family a frightening chill.
This only increases the tragedy they face.


How will they ever face
the facts of the story in the newspaper ?
Be assured that they all will still get a chill
when the story comes to mind
long, long after the passing of today.
All that they have for solace is a picture.


Unable to forget the picture ,
I remember times spent laughing along with that face,
on many occasions long before today,
long before that fateful newspaper.
It helps to bring more pleasant images to mind,
if only to briefly warm the chill.


Gone for now is the unnerving chill.
A vibrant, energetic, lovable guy taken before his time is my picture.
It’s an image that will often come to mind.
I will not soon forget that grinning face.
Surf City, accident, explosion, two dead, all are just words in the newspaper,
but they mean a lot to a few people today.


His face in that picture, in that tragic newspaper
article, that I read today will forever send a chill
down my spine , and bring to mind memories of a good friend lost.