a year without you

it will be April again
it will be spring again
there will be a new beginning
although we might pretend that
   everything is the same
   it will not be

the green of the grass will not be
   the same green
the yellow of the flowers
   will not be the same yellow
it will not be the blue, the red
   the black and the white
   of everything we will see
the trees will not be
   the same trees
the birds flying through the sky
   will not be the same birds and
   will not fly the same way
the sky where those birds fly
   will not be the same sky
it will not be the same when it rains
   neither the rainbow after it rains
   nor the night when it gets dark
people at work
   in offices, in shops
   in factories or at leisure
   in parks and squares
the water frolicking
   in the fountains of those squares
children playing in those parks
young people going to school
couples holding hands
the streets
      where people walk…
even though everything
     will seem the same
it will not be

as feathers we weighed
in the balance
     of Mother Nature
she took her toll and
     naturally
without delay
     we all had to pay
        
it will be April again
when opening the doors or
    the windows of our homes
we will see spring and
    we will smile at her
we will breathe fresh air
we will feel the breeze
    that ever so quietly whispers…
‘it's been a year without you’
for thousands of people
    who are no longer with us