For Max

Yesterday my cousin died in a car accident.  It's utterly heartbreaking for a multitude of reasons.  Nonetheless, this is a sonnet I wrote for him, clinging as tightly as I can to the words of 1 Thessalonians 4:13.

Max

Today the wicked one approached my eyes

To steal, with news of violent death, my tears

His serpent stomach hungered for the prize

Of tasting on his tongue my liquid fears

And so he tossed at me this horrid word

Of final breaths from you, my kin and friend

And with that word, despair in me was stirred

And sorrow started flooding without end

But right before the foe could fill his cup

Your Savior claimed the tears upon my face

He seized them as His own, then filled them up

With promises of bloody hope and grace

Yes, still my stream of tears for you is long

But now I cry with Easter in my song