Throwing rocks
out into the water.
Watching them splash down
and the ripples
radiate out.
We were silent,
barely even there.
Just trying to get away
without feeling.
Times like these are hard.
You,
and your father’s funeral.
He never wanted
a big affair,
but so many people came.
You were young
and I still younger,
but I knew
the whole thing
made you scared.
You tried to say
you were more worried
for your mother,
and your sister,
but I could tell
you were a mess inside.
After the church service
there was a wake
at the home
of your aunt and uncle.
Your mother’s brother,
who seemed nice enough,
but you and I
soon grew bored
and left
out the back door.
There was a big fish pond
on the back side
of the property.
Ringed around with willows
and a gravel bank.
The water was calm
and still,
we could see the sky
reflected on its surface.
You looked down,
bent, and picked up a stone
and threw it
as hard as you could.
The splash
shattered the silence,
flushing some ducks
from the far side.
They took to the sky
and our eyes followed them
as the disappeared
into the distance.
Not sure
how long we stood there
throwing rocks
into that pond.
I remember hearing my mother
calling for me
to come along.
We were going home.
So, I took one final look
into your eyes
and I could see
what I had known.
Every stone
had been a tear cried.
As we drove away,
all I could think of
was those ripples
in the pond,
and how,
once they reach the edge,
they’re gone.
DJR – 2023
