Awareness and Pain

Laughter swelled on summer days,
sprinkled with water fights and frolicking smiles
that leaped and gamboled
across open faces.

The sun whose visage was all but hidden,
glowed with vows for more to come,
as you sat in your corner,
with your needlework and perfect stitches.

And any light was blocked
by the shadows
that swallowed you whole
while I played as a child with hope.

You died with a heart open to love
but light smothered in your eyes.
I tried to reach you after I saw your pain.
But needles and stitches
kept me away,
as the darkness sewed you tightly closed.

I wish I'd had a pair of scissors.