I was driving to a meeting Thursday evening and heard this heartbreaking, lovely interview on NPR in which Tom Parks shared about his beautiful daughter Molly and his desire not to hide her ultimately fatal struggle with heroin addiction. His love for Molly shone through the whole piece and a few lines of this poem began to rattle through my head. It took time for these verses to take shape, and I hope they honor this brave father and his family:
This Side of the Sky
Without you, my love
there’s always a cloud,
a crack in my heart
where your laughter lives now.
I hope you’re dancing in heaven, and
the angels greeted you with open arms.
But it’s far too soon for me —
I’m standing on this side of the sky
Learning to say good-bye.
Every sunrise, every rainbow
without you reminds me
of eternity, and every breath
I breathe brings me closer to home.
Someday we’ll be dancing in heaven
joining the choirs of angels
praising God.
Until that time,
I’m standing on this side of the sky
learning to say good-bye,
shining with love for you.
Photo credit: Jody Roberts / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA