Mere Words

For Jessica, in memory of Yohan Anthony
1st November 2006 - 1st November 2006

Words fail me, fail you -
they could not bear the weight
of your immeasurable loss, your
  crushing grief;
they could not carry across the distance
  of miles and moments
the relief or ease I desperately wish
  to give.

      Should one wonder about what
        might have been?
      Is the world of speculation
      preferable because it sustains endless
      possibilities in perpetuality,
      that a brief four-hour life here
      would then be lived out there
      in eternity?

Words fail you, fail me -
inadequate, hackneyed vehicles for conveying
the consuming confusion of emotions
  churning within.
Words - mere words - fail
always in times like this,
tongue-tied in the face of grief.

                                                       Come,
let the cloud of silence absorb these tears,
grow heavy and gray with the immensity
  of their anguish and heartache,
and burst out, at last,
with stuttering raindrops
that would speak for me and weep
  for you.