SORROW STONES

Psalm 69:29
I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me

Would you lay with me in a field of stone, if my needs were strong, would you lay with me.*

There was only one date on her grave: February 11, 2000. The tiny stone lay in a grassy sea of mournful memories. The graves of children.

Will you still love me when I'm down and out, in my time of trial, would you stand by me.

Her name was Marie and I stood above her headstone today a few feet away from her brother's tiny casket. Her Mom, Dad, brother and step-sister were crouched beside the ivory coffin, holding each other, crying in anguish.

Would you go away to another land, walk a thousand miles through the burning sand, wipe the blood away from my dying hand, if I give myself to you.

A tiny frayed bunny sits atop Marie's headstone...now her tiny brother rests nearby.

Would you lay with me in the stream of life when the moon is full, would you bathe with me...

So much heartbreak today, acknowledged in a field of sorrow. A preacher said uncomfortable words of comfort that will be quickly forgotten. There are no adequate words, we all knew that.

Everett Joseph was born and died.

There will be only one date on his headstone too: May 22, 2003.

Would you lay with me in a field of stone, if my needs were strong, would you lay with me...

This is the ugly grimace of grief. No one ever wants to look at it directly, yet we all must...if we are ever to look beyond it.




*"Would you lay with me"-David Allen Coe