Positive Press

A boy goes missing in Erie

Rocky beach 

Sweltering air

Hazy skies 

Family went there 

Only one time 

Bemoaning the heat

But marveling at the lake 

Something caught our attention 

A crowd gathered 

Then chatter talking 

Then a low hush

A young boy was missing 

Within the crush 

Alert and aloud

Dazed and concerned 

We looked around 

And milled about

Perhaps for twenty minutes 

Seemed an eternity throughout 

Would the boy be found 

Or parents forever weep

We realized our powerlessness 

To do more than pray or see

But somehow from somewhere 

The boy regained his keep 

From whence he did return 

I’ll never know 

Perhaps attended by others

Perhaps alone 

But come back he did

And into breathless arms 

His family wept for good that day

In that they didn’t mourn forever

(copyright 2023 Brendan Shea)