Not the tolling—For Corrie
It seems like such a short time since I wrote this poem, but it was three years ago that a fellow storyteller named Corrie lost a grandson. He died quite suddenly as a young boy. Moved by her loss and on praying for her, I wrote this poem and gave her a copy. It's since been published by Tower Poetry Society* in 2016. I'll let your imagination offer up the right picture. Not the tolling “not the tolling of bells but the silence after”—Kathleen Norris Not the tolling of bells or the parade of people come to see you acknowledging your pain that some understand and others simply want to comfort Not the tolling of church bells you’d expect or the filled pews but the silence when everyone leaves you alone to confront the empty chair at breakfast and everywhere in the house where silence sits no shoes kicked off at the front door to snatch a still warm cookie then running off to play outdoors Not the tolling