When Parents Bury Children

Amiri Baraka, Jr., Amiri Baraka, Amina Baraka

 When Parents Bury Children

for the Barakas on the loss of Shani Baraka

 Shani Baraka and her partner, Rayshon Holmes, were murdered

Death!

a pain nothing can kill

no words suffice

no tears complete

we are numb

alive

yet dead inside

walk with pride

hiding open wounds

a bleeding only you

can see touch feel

others try

some are true

honest

but do they really know

the pain of loss

a child

so young so bright

now the emptiness forever

except the memory of all the yesterdays

from birth til now

thoughts of joy confound

make us smile

if only for a moment

like eternity

then gone into the night of forever

and so we walk

crippled yet brave

each day wondering

pondering

the price of life and love

cost of moments lost yet found again

as we walk and talk

to the spirit world

where death does not enter

only living water flows

as we flow

between life and spirit

which are one.

--Marvin X

9/29/03