So Dies a Piece of Heart

He slides sideways

away

from

beseeching

hands

reaching through glass

for one more touch,

away

from

pain

and

loss

  beyond pain and loss.

He travels far in an instant

to build a solitary hut

by a solitary ocean

for the new-torn and broken.

He bids them stay,

and, leaving little food,

hurries back,

diminished,

dulled.

The bus departs,

sealing his heart’s triage.

 

* * * *

 

Note:  A news photo from the Bosnia upheaval in November 1995

showed a ten-year-old boy being bused from a besieged village.