WHEN BLUE STARS
TURN TO GOLD

Grandmother had a blue star
hanging in her window -
I have the star now, tattered
in my living room, and know
that when a loved one passed away
the blue star turned to gold…
and the loved one lost
never became bent or old…
Only the mothers grew older
and grayer and tired and sad
wondering about the life,
her darling might have had…
what he might have done,
and grandchildren in the morning sun…
all now eternally
undone.
Not many of the mothers left,
Myself - I don’t know any -
But way back then, there
were oh, so very many -
Blessings on the Mothers
and on the fathers too
whose sons and daughters
didn’t make it through -
a time when gold stars once were blue
and their loved ones, ’ever young,
turned golden in their hue.

©Christina Sharik
April 30, 2001