pebbles in the day-song

falling quietly like dry leaves in the fall

upon hardened grass waiting renewal

pebbles slip through the rubble of lives pounding at doors

while searching for birds recently flown away

a voice of garbled notes

longing to catch its breath as the wind shifts away

is lost

la-la-ga-ging along the path

stretching to touch a distant dream

filtering through the echoes on the rim

where the voice of blue bugs moan out a hymn

but what does one say

when the echoes float from dead throats

crying aloud toward an enclosed ear

i don't know

watching the sad shadows form around the eyes

around victims sitting with patient breath

as if some doctor might walk along

and heal what they cannot care to speak

...and they don't know

being both deaf and silent

to the urges roiling within them

on worn bellies and tried hearts

with centuries of "Never"

as the one word spoken from their lips

i am sick watching this parade

seeing the damage the pebbles form

in ev'ry land between the sunny morns

because i don't know how to mend

or enliven hope among our broken bones

between the sins each person brings along