Freed

The eyes, misaligned and a little weak
The undersized legs, rigid and feeble
An ill-functioned tongue, unable to speak
What he thinks or what he sees, a riddle

As nature's path winds, and darkness arrives

It's inevitable this time will come

An angelic soul departs from our lives

Loved and welcomed into eternity

Certainly sorrow will say its goodbye

But joy will give great strength within his wings

As discovery shows that he can fly

Freed from the tight restraints that held him here

Presence lingers, it's inexplicable

Though gone, essence of life not departed

Watching with support indivisible

Helping us always as we did so for him

Commentary:

This was a poem was inspired by a photo I shared once some time ago and again yesterday on my Facebook. It was a photo of a gravesite with a statue over the grave of a disabled person. The statue was placed there by his father. It was of a little boy leaping out of his wheelchair, finally freed from the confines of his body. That particular statue hit home for me, because of my younger brother who is not only wheelchair bound, but limited in being able to do anything for himself, including communicating. I wrote this poem in response, and it's been a little bit of an emotional journey writing this. Thinking of him being freed from all of the things I've witnessed him going through in life is one of the most beautiful visions that I've ever come across. 

I came across a YouTube video about a girl who murdered her disabled older sibling. For what reason no one really knew. The only thing they could figure out was that maybe she wanted attention as a disabled sibling would require more attention because of the needs they have. Having been so close to my brother in age, I understand the attention issue, but I got used to it. I couldn't fathom doing that to him. I've learned as I grew what a blessing it is to have him in the family. I always say that he taught me more about what's important in life than anyone else. I see heaven with him in it, and I'm excited to see what he's really like when that time comes. Perhaps he will tease me to get back at me for the times I teased him. 😁

Photo from FB post by CHYM 96.7 on August 29, 2014.