Dearest Tank,
I may have never known
The way you blinked your eyes
Or heard the sound of your pleading cries..
Never felt you tug my hair
Or call me “Aunt Ace”,
But I will know you
In the depths of a sacred place.
Human things could not contain your spirit,
But God's creation always will and
In the quiet of the morning
I shall find you still.
You are butterfly wings in the sky
The wind that rustles the leaves
Rain drops from the clouds
Caged birds finally set free.
Sun rising over the mountains
Sun setting over the hills
A child's laughter in a silent room
The moment that gives us chills.
The perfect blue of the ocean
Skipping stones into rivers deep
Footprints in the sand
The longing that makes us weep.
Stars shining bright upon us
Only seen on the darkest nights
The stretch of radiant blue skies
A backdrop for the eagle's flight.
You are the tiny bud that we wait upon
When spring replaces frigid snow
You are the colors of the rainbow
And every seed we sow.
You came to teach us many things
Of time will reveal
But today I know you're teaching me
To sit quietly and feel.
I'll know you in our children
And in my sister's eyes
I'll know you in the broken place
Where angels hear my cries.
You are in the music
And the soft whispers in our ears
You are the hope
That replaces all our fears.
I will know you and I will learn,
All that you came to teach
For an angel doesn't leave us,
He's always in our reach.
Someday I'll kiss your lips
And rejoice to see you real
With eyes that I can't possess now
But which heaven will reveal.
Still I know you are with us
Always in our hearts
And if we search for you
We shall never be apart.
In honor of my nephew, Tank Matthew Evans, May 10, 2013.
