Carry him away upon your smoky chariot
Burn the incense and let its scent fill us
Let its hollow presence try and urn away the memories
Our prayers are futile in the ICU waiting room
One boy gone
The other one soon to go
Grief numbs our mind and everything seems colder
But it does not soothe your body's aches
The cuts are still bleeding and the nurses still clamor
You need help too
They say with their low tones and kind eyes
Don’t they understand?
Nothing matters anymore
My little boy is gone
My sweet child
And if my other one pulls through
How do you tell a Boy his brother is dead?
She dreads and hopes for that moment
She prays that she has the chance to tell him
Because that will mean he has survived
The old warm world where children’s laughter and constant demands is gone
Its all quiet now
Faces blur
And even if she could see them she wouldn’t care
There’s only one face she wants to see now
But its slack with death, cold with time
Burn the incense to carry the prayers
Hear the words
Keep him safe
You’ve taken him away from her so you have to protect him now
the smoke rises and loops and curls
Let it drift upwards to you so you can hear the words
As the wind pulls it high stretching it till you can’t see more that a blur
Let the smoke carry her words
You’ve already taken one
Leave her the other
A soul is a heavy thing
But smoke is heavier
Let it carry the boy far from the grieving mother
leave with only his fleshy husk