Shades of Grey

And there you were in shades of monochrome
A sight we'd hardly dared believe we'd see
Shifting shades of grey on a tiny screen
Love made flesh and there among us
Full of hope and truth
Breath caught. Hearts lifted.
On cautious beating wings
A small white dot danced with an infectious desire to be
Then faltered, hesitated, beat, flickered, came and went
And our own hearts cracked
Then shattered with the pain of your tiny struggle

Long days followed.
Each an endless year.
Mere moments crawled like a thousand hours
But hope, though tempered, refused to leave
Reslolutely barring the exit
To the fire in our hearts

And then the moment we dared to look again
When a million dreams tumbled
In an endless silent fall
And the beating silver wings that had dared to rise
Stuttered, slowed and fell still
As aching hearts told with a certainty
That fearful eyes could not convey
That your briefest moment of life had been
And gone
The fight too hard
The road too long. Too steep
One tiny moment shared
A lfietime of dreams exchanged in a single look

And hopeful hearts broke
Under the unbearable weight of certainty
That your tiny spark would never take the form of our dreams
Never be held
Nor truly known
A dream so long cherished
Of bringing this tiny silver spark to be

Instead we let it fly
Opening our fists and hearts
To watch you drift away

A dandelion seed
On the gentlest breeze