Someone cried
today, it was the birth of a baby boy
The tears they cried were not of sadness but
they flowed because of joy
New life, excitement and untapped potential
abound
In a few short months little feet hit the
ground
Someone cried today
A few years
pass, now it is off to the first day of school;
someone cried today
He looks so small and helpless so to his room I
will show him the way
So many concerns for him I have floating in my
mind
One of my most difficult tasks to date is
leaving him behind
Someone cried today
School is going
well, should have had the faith to know that it
would
He is growing and socializing with others as he
plays in the neighborhood
Time passes so fast-to fast, and now my boy is
in middle school
I notice a change I do not like but convince
myself he is just being cool
Someone cried today
More concern
more change now that he is in high school – I
feel I don’t even know him
His behavior is bad, his grades are a mess, and
for him things are looking grim
Then it came, I’ll never forget that horrible
day –the day someone cried
The officer came to my job to inform me that my
son had died
Someone cried today
Time has passed
since that terrible tearful day
I so often question why my son was taken away
Drugs filled his young body, stole his soul,
and an addict he had become
In the final hour his heart had exploded, to
cocaine he did succumb
Someone cried today
I saw the
changes, little by little but wrote them off
too quick
Justified it as adolescence and being cool; too
busy to probe it just didn’t click
I let it go too far and the end result was that
it killed the boy who I did adore
Too late now, my son is gone I should have
talked to him sooner and listened to him more
Someone cried today
©
Kent Fletcher
January 2013
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kent Fletcher retired as Deputy Chief of the Durham NC
Police Dept. He served with that department for 301/2 years. He is a graduate
of the 162nd session of the FBI National Academy and has an AA and BS degree in
Justice Administration from Guilford College. Writing short stories and poetry
has become a part-time hobby. He can be reached at
hkfletcher@nc.rr.com
