Found Remains (#PoetryMonday*)

They leave home
their dorm rooms
apartments
       whole
with faces, hands,
mouths spouting laughter,
       watering cans of glee
sprinkling the air with joy
and silliness
carefree
       happy

going to a party
looking for a party
heading home from a party

and then
       not

nothing

vanishing brings panic
searching
       questions
as paths are retraced
friends queried for clues
surveillance reviewed for images

speculation fills the newsfeeds
       for days, months, years

and then
       discovery

remains

in some overlooked corner
a shaded mossy crevice
       beneath silent watching trees
or the basement of an abandoned building
or a shallow grave
or a trash bin
 
the remains are found

they leave
       whole

are found
       bones

this is not how any parent
should have to retrieve
a lost child

merely bones
       found remains.

 



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  * It's PoMo! To learn about PoMo (POetry MOnday), click here and then scroll down. 

 The impetus for this poem was the headline (Missing nursing student Holly Bobo's remains found in Tennessee) and first sentence (After three years of searching, the remains of Holly Bobo have been found in Tennessee.) of a CNN report posted on September 9, 2014, and was fueled as well by the more recent case of Hannah Graham. Hearing and reading these stories always evokes a tremendous sense of sadness, particularly as the parents and families of those murdered come to mind. While there is no easy way to lose a child, to have a child abducted and killed has to be especially horrendous to bear.

This poem is included in this collection: