Absence of God
God’s absence was marked
by a hole in the ice
that opened suddenly
under the boys’ weight
their voices unbroken,
muffled by the frozen lake
in seconds submerged in
panic and imploding ice
vicious freezing water
forcing air from their lungs
just days before Christmas
four lives were expunged
no reason why revealed
to my desperate mind
the human condition
the only answer we’ve got
for senseless suffering
a catchall for our lot.