Shattered Besides Her Crib

He sat beside her crib,

trying hard not to break down,

trembling like foliage in a whirlwind.

His hands cradled his head,

heavy with tears cascading like a spring.

Desperately, he willed her to stay awake,

fearing that if her eyes closed,

she might be taken away from him.

She was his world,

his beacon of hope,

his anchor amidst a raging tempest.

He could not forgive God.

"Why play dice with my daughter’s life?"

he murmured into the vast void.

"Take me instead,"

his prayer consumed by silence,

as the heavens remained quiet,

as they always are.                                                                 

When her breath stalled,

and the hospital machines screamed

darkness rose like a tide and devoured him.

The delicate thread tethering his hope snapped,

and the world crumbled around him,

he died the same day

his spirit shattering alongside hers.