Memorial Garden

By chance today I traveled into the neighborhood. I was curious to visit the garden where the house once stood. The events of that crime will forever chill us. I won't write about the details of the crime. It was the heinous crime ever commited in Connecticut. A home was burglarized and its inhabitants were held hostage. The wife and two daughters were murdered. The husband is the only survivor. One of the perpetrators is in the penalty phase of his trial where the jurors will either impose a life sentence or death. Today the closing arguments were presented in court. The deliberation will begin tomorrow.

I choose to write about the garden. The house was damaged in the fire set by the perpetrators and demolished. The property may still belong to the survivor. Undoubtedly no one planned to construct a new home in its place. The community felt a sense of reverence for the land similiar to a place where marytrs were slained. A memorial garden was planned and it is maintained. The victims were contributors. Both daughters were involved with the cause of multiple sclerosis on behalf of their mother who was diagnosed with it.

It rained today so I could not walk through the garden. In spite of the violence the garden is serene. It is a tribute to what the victims tried to accomplish while they were alive.

 

 

 

Theme in Yellow by Carl Sandburg

Theme in Yellow
by Carl Sandburg

I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o'-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.