early morning
sun creeps up
and lights
the world
as coffee
opens eyes
to watch

The flourishing tree
with giant boughs
diverging into smaller branches
dividing into tiny twigs
wore a thick blanket
of shining foliage
rustling in the wind
in glistening waves
in the sunlight.

On a thundery day
storm clouds blackened
the lowering sky
whose lightning streaked
down to earth brutally
wrenching off a huge bough
casting it to the ground.

Three deaths in one family
within eleven weeks
farewelled two aunts and
the son of one, all
mourning the other son
passed on not long before.
Her husband already long gone
the mother barely survived
her last child before
her heart gave up.

The rest of that family
like the rest of the tree
now strove to regain
their balance, to stand up
straight after the loss
of a mighty family bough.