Empty Nest

In a carriage of cold steel
you carry away bundles of warm joy
selfless love, eternal moments....
dead.

their little wrap-arounds
soaked in blood,
the tiny booties to cover
pink little feet that didn’t even
know how to walk
shredded
by splinters that flew haywire.

blood on my baby's shawl...
death on my child's face...
eyes open to nothingness
...what was his mistake?
did he even know blood?
did he even feel hate?

The fathers carry them
to the morgue,
a weight ever so much on their arms,
what shall be buried when the funeral happens?

The grace of humanity,
The hope for future,
The zeal in forgiveness
Or the hope that one day this shall all end.