Activities are taken for granted
Levels of trusting in entertainment
What happens when the trust is supplanted
When child safety should be the attainment

You loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
And enjoyed playing flag football with friends
Now a community faces hurdles
After the tragedy of young life ends

Five years is not a long time on this Earth
But you made your mark on all you had met
With a family loving you since birth
Something Maryland should never forget

Declan, in your playful jumps to the moon
Heaven received an angel way too soon

© Christopher Chronister 8/5/2024

Refusing to catch a film with my dad
I had more important things to do then
Constantly arguing and being mad
Protecting the reputation of men

Not sure we ever forgave each other
For growing up and for getting older
Former best friends fighting under cover
An audacity to become bolder

A childhood of amazing memories
Which cannot be dismissed as nostalgia
Turned into teenaged years of fantasies
And an emotional diaspora

In struggling to be a better son
Being a father can help me be one

©  Christopher Chronister 09/18/2023

You were always missed while you were away
We assumed if there was time to make up
Certainly we would have another day
Today I will drink from a guilty cup

I ponder my availability
Did I extend my hand often enough
If teasing occurred over empathy
Projecting the image of being tough

Today on my mind like never before
Was there failure in communication
Could I have reached out to my dear friend more
I'll end my letter with hesitation

Now praying there is indeed a heaven
When eight feels longer than twenty-seven

After only five short years on this Earth
Your young life was tragically ended
Forced to enact resilience since birth
Abused when a parent was offended

Thinking on your great possibilities
General wasn't allowed to command
The world was robbed of your abilities
As a child was denied a loving hand

Questioning everything worldly I kneel
Darkness descends as light flickers away
Hearts fragmented from this story will heal
Tearful eyes dry while other children play

Heaven's population is adjusted
When children are hurt by those they trusted

©  Christopher Chronister, March 2022

Hopeful energy radiates from you
Therapy mended this fragmented heart
Now I have found blissful love that is true
I'll try to return that love, for my part

To provide you with warmth is my life's goal
Before you came, loneliness was my plight
I'm lucky I found the mate of my soul
In darkness it was you who showed me light

Upon your birth, the world became better
On your life's journey, many hearts you've touched
Time with you sparked this birthday love letter
We are grateful for the love you have bunched

Your smile is the way I now see life
Happy birthday to my beautiful wife

© Feb. 2022, Christopher Chronister

When at once in the dark I was alone
Lost I was and unable to find me
Loneliness is what my heart had been shown
And desolation my two eyes did see

The sorrow that was building became rage
And fire within me surely did grow
I imprisoned myself inside this cage
Making my tears evermore slowly flow

The pain you bestowed upon me with lies
Has been reborn and now it is named hate
For everything about you I despise
An end is what I patiently await

I will rubricate this last song of mine
And know, an encore I will disincline

©  Christopher Chronister

Envisioning premature ascension
While fighting cynicism of today
Yearning for a new sense of direction
Hoping angelic music will now play

Sadness overwhelms, seeing your arm reach
Trusting the unworthy was all you knew
In a cruel world, it’s devotion you teach
As angel eyes transform, but remain blue

Playing with my son I begin to cry
Emotions run deep as fear rushes in
Wanting to believe that angels do fly
I just cannot decide where to begin

Tragedy starts with early morning dark
And ends with abandonment in the park


© Christopher Chronister, 3/2/21