The flame was lit
And brightly it shone,
Suddenly it was extinguished
Just before dawn.
The sun was about to rise
The prospects great,
A job well done
With much to anticipate.
A day like any other
Surely, when it had begun,
Turned out unlike any other
When it was done.
A Christian young man
Taken out in his prime
Leaving questions galore
During this COVID time.
A worker on the frontline,
A young photojournalist
Quick to respond to duty
Now sadly missed.
Heart wrenching news
Of the nightmare type
As a wonderful sunlit day
Suddenly turned to night.
“One of our very own”
The news media announced,
Suddenly robbed of his prospects
His verve and his bounce.
I cannot come to grips
As I ruminate on this,
How shattered the dreams
Of Sonia and Chris!
A job that in Barbados
Should be relatively safe,
Now we wonder…
After what has taken place.
He was not a police officer
As in the case of his dad,
Or joined the military forces
As is a youthful fad…
But a photojournalist
With an excitingly bright
future,
Bringing the news to us
With a myriad of pictures.
Thousands of words
Painted with his camera lens
Suddenly, as of yesterday,
Coming to an end.
In the line of duty
At another murder scene,
Taken out by a vagrant
How abhorrently obscene!
Left in its wake
Shattered family and friends,
Distraught colleagues
And questions without end.
Why? Heavenly Father,
Not unlikely the first,
Show us Heavenly Father
The blessing in this curse.
I thought at this point
To mention his name
But I am restrained by a
feeling
I’d be adding to the pain.
I trust God for his family
As they sort out this riddle
For no doubt in the distant
future
It will still be a puzzle.
To the other grieving
family:
It’ll be no different for you,
A myriad of questions
With no clear answers in view.
Yours too headed for work
Just like any other day,
Having not the slightest clue
Of this hurdle in his way.
It proved insurmountable
Through no fault of his own,
Plunging your family and
friends
Into this twilight zone.
The way forward
Will not be an easy path
But God, your heavenly Father,
Is not daunted by any task.
Draw nearer to Him,
Make him your security and
defense
And trust Him with your life
When life makes no sense.
Stewart Russell © June 2020
