Falling Frames.

She stood stoically at the top of the stairwell,

Rummaging through memories as if something had been missing.

A flood of emotions flowing in like a swell,

Her heart filled with sorrow as tears trickled from her lips.

He intently listened to the melody of beeps,

As the monitor flashed his vitals far away.

The pain that had taken away his last few hours of sleep,?

And replaced them with a strength he was powerless to sway.

They looked on with reverence as the cortège went by,??

An endless line of cars trailing as far as the eye could see.

Fire engines raising their ladders high in salute and flags at half-mast fly,?

Somber faces shedding tears for a soldier they would never meet.

These moments encapsulated in silence etched into time's essence frame,

A story to tell when reminiscence calls its name.

Loud prayers whispered in unison with roses and carnations drenched in flame,???

In memorial for moments that will forever remain unchanged.

Tomorrow this house will be different without someone it used to call home,???

Staring into her past searching for answers she cannot condone.

A memory etched deeply like a granite headstone –?

As those moments grieve ever so silently - frozen still within its frame.

?Joseph Clementi, 2021