Aftermath

In the aftermath of love’s wild aura

With panic on the cusp of sleep,

When shadows of regret envelop,

There is a moment only

When warmth evokes a grin.

In the aftermath of the shooters wild spree

No adequate explanation for reason,

Why this time, this place, these people,

Caught in a hatred moment

Lost from living who remain.

In the aftermath of too little too late

Lamenting loss, emotional vent

For something lost by choice

In a moment of solution rummage,

Searching for a benign result.

In the aftermath of red flags realized,

Recriminations cast one to another,

A game of sorts, no clarity achieved

In a confused moment of rhetoric

With nothing substantive said.

In the aftermath of prologue rewritten,

With expectations strewn around,

Questions arise about knowing

In a broken moment of memory loss

Amidst scattered hopeful nervous laughter.

After the aftermath much to reflect on,

Regrets may linger, then lost,

Moral compass learned from experience,

Then in a moment of lucid private cerebral

Realize new normal to be forged.