My heart was splattered

blood red over drab stones

gravestone inscription read:

here lies the girl who lost her home

Her heart and her friend

And everything else

 

Her country

Her house

Her garden

Her school

Her joy

Was no longer hers

In exchange for nothing

But a second chance

 

As the days passed

Became months a year

a year and a half

Crimson faded to dull rust

Throbbing thrumming

in longing

Drumming hope

into life

 

It stopped

When the rain fell

breaking a breathless dry spell

Fed the flower

That was to bloom

bright once more

A mere two weeks

Of the summer