Elegy for Juliani

They found him today,
the dirty canal washing his face,
his lungs bursting full
with watery breath.

Confusion and hatred
coldly cast this child
to the chilly turbid flow.

Another child died long ago
and all the people wept
to see young life so quickly swept
into death’s deep sleep,

and so they begged
for a miracle. He said

“Wake up, little girl,”
and startled, wide eyed and
very hungry, she sat up.

Does sleepy Juliani
hear a soothing voice say,
“Wake up, little boy”?

Does he rise now to play
in heaven’s soft, new day?