Imagine to Remember

He had been missing for many years when his remains were found. For years his family searched for him.. The police did not take his case seriously. He and I were not close but we lived for many years as neighbours when we were children, going to the same school, living in the same building.

These days I find myself thinking of him and of all of the world’s lost children. I write this in their memory.

May they be comforted in the warmth of the divine embrace, forever and ever.

I remember as you were
I remember us all
Children with shining faces, slick with cocoa, shea, vaseline from Mama’s hands, readying us for the cold winter days
We carried book bags bigger than our bodies, bouncing on our backs with each step
The neighbourhood seemed to me then its own universe, self-organizing and self-sustaining
And we its people, living by its laws and its rhythms
But im older now and i see its just a few city blocks
Its smaller, quieter now, its colours less vibrant
We still talk about it, those of us still here
It is not the same we say, people are different and the magic is gone
You don’t know any of this, because you are not here, you are in a different world
How did you get there?
No one seems to know
How does a person vanish into the night?
They found you by the water
Did you discard your body like a garment and walk through that watery portal?
In this vast web of 0s and 1, fragments if you still exist
A picture here a sound bite there
I pray not for you but your family
I remember your mother, your father
Your brothers and sisters
Their pain is immeasurable, their questions never cease
They say you die twice, so far now a part of you still lives
I remember your name
I see you in minds eye as you once were