Evenings Are For Sighing
sun dips low, the slate time
of day hangs over the city
making room for comforting
shadows
there’s a solemnity
that’s fallen over
shattered hearts,
a quiet gratitude
for the serving
of justice, but
a heaviness
that reigns, a cautious
victory thrum,
a knowing
that the fight
still exists
to shred us apart
a mourning of the fallen,
never forgotten, names
tattooed on the back
of the eyelids of those
at prayer
a mother holding
her babies tighter,
a father holding
his head in trembling hands,
& there exist those
who will never fully
understand the weight
of an open space,
the memory of a broken face,
or the stranger
unclear in the mirror
moon rises high, the peace
time of night in the complex,
crying cats & no footsteps
to startle the grieving
in their corners, no wind
to caress cascading tears,
only stars to twinkle,
shining streetlights
on the emptiness, the
temporary absence of fear
Thistle Thoughts 
You’ve captured the queasy peace of the day. I want this precedence to make a difference. But the basic level of compassion it asks of the people who can’t visualize what you’ve shown here… It’s a struggle to hope for that, and to work for it, but we do.
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All anyone can do is try. ❤
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👏
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Wonderful poem Jennifer!
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Thank you so much!
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Great poem!
“shining streetlights
on the emptiness, the
temporary absence of fear”
I love this line. The conviction was important, but I know it takes more than just one time for justice to be served. I’m hoping this is a sign of things to come.
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It’s hopeful. So much needs to change. Thank you for reading!
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A profound and powerful poem written with great skill!
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Thank you
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