Smiling Through Our Tears Poem by Patti Masterman

The world shrank again, today.
The phone call came early- someone had died.
Someone nice, and down to earth, and
Genuinely kind; well liked by more than a few.
I didn't know the world was going to shrink today.
It was unexpected. And now I am trying to fit myself
Into this much smaller world;
Strange how one death can make such a difference.
His mother called to confirm he had died,
And the caller ID, for an unearthly moment,
Made it appear he was calling, from the great beyond.
And we joked a second about that, and she tried
To hold herself together. And I did a great job;
But true to my style, I fell apart just afterwards,
In private. We are both such private beings,
Trying to regain our former size, in a much smaller universe
Which will never quite be the same again.
And as he was leaving, his baby had just been born,
And he even held it in his arms, and had photos
Perhaps trying to forget his misery, for a brief moment of happiness.
So now the baby can some day see itself
Held in daddy's arms. I don't even know what the sex was.
It is alive now; a little bit of himself, he left in his place
For his loved ones. That's the important part.
He left behind a baby, to make us all smile anyway,
To remove some of the sting of grieving.
He always did enjoy making people smile and laugh.
I think that's the part the baby should hear about later.
A little joy, a little bit of tears, and a little reflection of love,
Left in the babies eyes.
That's what it's all about, in the end.