By Sara L. Russell
Having become heart-sick at so many news stories of children who
had disappeared and were found murdered, in England recently, I wondered
what I could do about it. All I can think of so far is this page of poems,
which I dedicate to the victims and their families, who have to wake up
to remember what happened again and again, with each new day...
IN SEARCH OF MILLIE
(For Amanda Dowler, rest in peace, and her parents)
c. Sara L. Russell 02:37 27/09/2002
Past the school gate
all through the park
the hour is late
in the lengthening dark
and the bedroom is quiet
and the garden so still
we are looking for Millie
in late summer chillUnder the leaves
of trees by the swing
under the eaves
dead petals from spring
softly, by streetlight
a name to invoke
we are searching for Millie
elusive as smokeOut in the fields
evening mist cloaks the grass
blackberry yields
where light feet used to pass
a blackened vortex
where a bright summer shone
we are waiting for Millie
but know she has gone.
THE CHILDREN WHO NEVER CAME HOME
(song) © Sara L. Russell
A seedling out before first frost
all too suddenly is lost
though we search the land with a fine-toothed comb
suffer the children who never came home.Do we plant our seeds as fodder for swine?
Who are the ones calling madness divine?
Some seeds may fall into poisoned loam
suffer the children who never came home.There's a quiet corner of heaven
For the children who never came home
where it's still safe for a child to walk alone
There's a silence in a garden
there's a ball forever still;
and love, how we miss you
and you know we always will.Oh James, Leonie, Billie-Jo,
We're turned to stone, don't go, don't go...
An unfinished diary is a tragic tome
Suffer the children who never came home.
SONNET FOR HOLLY AND JESSICA
Sara L. Russell, August 2002
Think not on the futility of death,
Holly and Jessica were life and light,
Giving vitality through every breath,
Their day eliminates the dark of night.
Angels will take them underneath their wings,
To fly to better places than we know,
Places removed from earthly sufferings,
Where all the lost children may safely go.
They are preserved in vibrant memory,
They dream amid the clouds of sunset skies,
They ride the breezes rolling from the sea,
and chase the ragged flight of butterflies.
Holly and Jessica are free, at peace,
May God send comfort to their families.