You shone like the sun on autumn leaves,
Their remaining life brief before they fell from the trees;
The sun's light was strong, the warmth intense, Just as was your heart; loving, immense;
But the leaves shriveled up and neared their end, Just as you when you left, my child, my friend;
Your meaning lives on in every new day, I begged God for time to extend your stay;
It's a hard lesson to learn that you have no control, Over life, over love, over a darling child's soul;
All we can do is sift through the hours, And beg for provision, mercy and power,
To experience life's sentence of lessons and fate, Before we, too, find ourselves in heaven's estate.
Love us and guide us from your ethereal view, Until one day we are reunited with you.
-Diamante Lavendar