Four people
Walk into a restaurant
Their eyes are red
Their faces long

All around them
People shout
People laugh

Silent as stone
They sit down
Their eyes never meeting
Their emotions never surfacing

Co workers approach
Saying their condolences
Saying their apologies

Words are spoken
Words are heard
They never penetrate
They hardly make things better

At the mention of his name
The grandmother cries
The grandfather weeps

The children are strong
They never cry
They never smile
Only red eyes mark their face

They turn back around
To face the world again
To make themselves feel better

Distractions is what they need
Distractions is what they want
A distraction is what they get

A balloon twister comes by
Gives the children a sword
The grandmother a corsage

They smile
Their faces strained
Flowers is all they have seen
Even balloons make is hard

The children go and play
The grandmother talks
The grandfather reads

All seems normal
Till the boy stares
A dad he sees
A dad he wants

His face is pained
Tears surface
Tears that never fall

Emotions and longing
Engulf his face
They stay there as he turns away
They stay there when he leaves

Pain that should never be there
Overtake the child’s face
Overtakes the family's

Pain of a loved one
Pain of a death
It hangs over their faces
It hangs over everyone

The gamily cries some more
As they remember
Remember of times that will never be

They get up to leave
The children follow
The grandfather walks out
The grandmother looks back

No silence
No stillness
Simply busy Life

Their eyes are still red
Their movements slow
Nothing seems real
Nothing seems happy

After weeks
It's still there
Even after years
It still will

Nothing can soothe the death
Of a loved one
Nothing can stop it

The world keeps turning
People keep moving
Nobody notices
Nobody knows

Everything is busy
Everything is the same
Life goes on