for kim

it is a memory
and perhaps it is foolish of me to dwell
but at the same time i want to get you down on paper
before i forget you
the way i forgot my memories with david
jeff
that were lost to me in my youth

you were so warm
so close
so full of life
and the first thing i remember is your smile
you always wore it so bright and beautiful
it lit up the room
warmed cold, frozen hearts
even chipped away the stone that surrounded this heart of mine
who would have known a heart of flesh was under there, somewhere?
you always hugged me
held me
and told me you loved me
that you loved me and so did jesus

how could anyone have not been changed?
your spirit showed through in everything you did
from the genuine way you handled yourself and others
to the compassion you showed those who were most in need
but most disparaged
how did you come to be so wonderful?
if christ ever had a follower who lived in his ways
and walked his path
it was you, my lady

curly-topped children and bright, dark eyes
laughter and prancing about it all i remember of the small ones
kiana, with her tiny little body and big, beautiful eyes
kristian with his miniature 'fro and high, childlike voice
they were your ministry too
though they did not know it
and it is perhaps their silence that i will notice the most
if only because a youthful, beautiful thing is no longer amoung us
a part of heaven went back into the sky on thursday
and i know why god took it now

i think i understand why he took you

something so beautiful is not of earth
there is a spirit that reigns in all of us
and
if we grasp it
our lives will be such amazing things
such stories like yours

we have learned so much
how to mourn and how to rejoice
how to hold on and how to let go
how to live
how to love

none of us will be left unchanged
like a beautiful flower you planted your seed
and though you've withered
the blooms are only beginning to spread
thank you