Memorial

I saw him there on
The side of the road
Down on his one knee
His head slightly bowed

A motorcycle
At first caught my eye
I noticed him next
As my car crept by

Kneeling at the sign
One that bears a name
Each white circle marks
Identical pain

The loss of a life
A treasured one gone
Undiminished as
The world carried on

I wanted to stop
To tell him I care
I didn't know if
He wanted me there

In his private time
In this public place
And as I pass him
He covers his face

I feel it from him
The one that he lost
Tonight it is clear
Exactly the cost

This frozen moment
That cannot be changed
One life is lost and 
One more rearranged 

Tonight when we meet
With family and friends
And share the good times
We like to pretend

Lose ourselves in the
Quotidian grind
Bar the disturbing 
Notion from our mind

Our human frailty
Is present in each
Action we take and
The lessons we teach

Inescapable
This reality
Everywhere I look
Everything I see 

Underscores the point
Of life's transience
In all I have learned
This always made sense 

I wish I could stop
And just hold his hand
To silently show
Someone understands 

Nothing can undo
It can't be repaired
At least he could know 
That somebody cared

It's not about me
This moment in time
This wasn't my loss
This grief isn't mine

We are not immune
Most everyone feels
The pain of this wound
That time never heals

As it marches on
We become inured
But every so often
We feel the fresh hurt

Memories flood in
Hot salty tears flow
Enduring this pain
We often don't show

Back to that moment
When it all became 
One endless cycle 
Of numbness and pain

We cannot go back
And time marches on
We beat ourselves up
Whether right or wrong

Beside this lamppost
Festooned with flowers
In silence, he spends
His Christmas Eve hours 

Admonition clear:
"Drive safely" it read
A plain white circle
Remembers the dead