I never knew him that well,
but the class was naked without his laughter,
and rather, silence sat as his bare desk,
meeting our eyes of disbelief;
death knows no age,
thinks nothing of beauty,
or the promises we wanted desperately to keep;
we can scream our angry questions
and believe me, beneath a calmly disheartened guise
I screamed til my throat bled
and yet, death stood voiceless,
staring at me from just across the room,
where he'll be 'til my number's up;
it almost helps now to think I'm stepping up in line.

here I am, praying to a God that I refuse to believe in,
who called for me while I was on the other line,
hoping for your sake
that he's as loving and forgiving
as I never knew him to be;

now I'm left to wonder,
thrown to the lions of my thoughts,
what could have been, what would be
and why we would have neither;
and part of me will always be
two seats back, one to the right,
wishing you were here.
so God bless you, if he can,
and I swear I'll do my best to save you
if you do your best to remember me
when I see you again...


-rest easy, Tyler Rosenberger-

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