Cheryl Swain Burbage - Forever Changed

When the sun went down on that summer day,
Who then could have known or guessed
That it would rise next morning on a world
That was forever changed and darkened.

The summer should be a joyous time,
Fragrant with flowers and ripening fruits
And with fields heavy with the the coming harvest.
Bright with the laughter of carefree children.

But that night the harvest was blighted,
The flowers lost their heart to bloom,
And the fruit shriveled and fell from the trees.
Because a warm, bright light had been rudely quenched.

That day passed, and the next, and the next.
The turning year brought the fresh promise
Of a new and unspoiled harvest,
Unsoaked by the streams of innocent blood.

But for the hearts that had felt the pain and blight,
It was too late for the new-sprung foliage
To offer a flowering of hope and healing,
Too late for the harvest of the heart to bloom again.

Written on the loss of a friend by violence

Cheryl Swain Burbage

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/forever-changed/