Out of the bag
What do I pull?
A collection of photos,
Treasured and dear,
Shades of the past,
Memories to cherish,
And what is the trick you ask?
Pouf!  And in an instant
The past becomes an integral part of the present.
The pictures are gone,
The people in them whom we’ve loved and lost
Are no longer with us alive and visible
But no one can see they are a very real part of us,
Alive within the one who loves them forever.
Just because they’re absent and missing
Doesn’t mean they are gone and forgotten.

What’s next you ask?
A disappearing act, perhaps?
Just look and see
Behind the screen I go
That was me then
This is me now
I have disappeared and,
Instead here is the new me
Looking the same, but never
Feeling the same nor living the same life.
I entered the church that day
Said all the prayers and sung all the songs as we
Said our earthly good-byes to our son 
to send him on his way to heaven.
I left the church that day
And emerged a totally new person,
Whom today, is still not “over” it,
Nor ever will be.

So you see the disappearing act was a success,
It looks as though I have reappeared 
but only those who really care
Truly know that I am not the same person.

Another act you beg for?
What kind of magic show is this you wonder?
Will perhaps an arm or leg be sawed off,
Or will I be cut in half and
Will I  magically appear whole?
That could be tried – that could be achieved –
Instead a piece of my heart was torn out
And you cannot see that I look whole and in one piece,
But appearances can be deceiving.
Walking, talking, laughing, crying, surviving,
With a piece of my heart gone
Do you not yet see the effects this has had on me?

Tis the end of the magic show
If you look closely you will see
It’s the day to day living that is the magic,
It’s what is inside you giving you courage, hope and love
That is true magic
And the rest?
It’s all just an illusion.

March 28, 2001
In Memory of James Avery
July 15, 1983 to September 22, 1997
~written by Meg Avery
TCF Lawrenceville, GA