This poem reflects on the loss of someone who died too young. It questions why a bright, shining person full of life would have their years cut short. While it's natural to feel pain and anger over their death, the poem encourages celebrating the life they lived and the spark they brought to others, rather than mourning what was taken. It suggests honoring their memory by fully living each day and keeping their spirit alive within ourselves.

1. THE SPARK
The world keeps turning, the sun still rises,
But sometimes sets too soon.
The shining star that burns too fast,
The summer that ends in June.
Leaves can wither without a reason,
From green to gold to brown,
Too brittle to last another season,
Fall softly to the ground.
“Can less be more?” we ask ourselves,
Must love so sweet be so short?
Why would God’s hand touch one so soon,
Take him from this earthly port?
“And why” we cry, a painful mourn,
“must it be so brief?”
How can God, the creator of life,
Turn out to play the thief?
"Can less be more?” we ask again,
Years filled with life or a life filled with years,
We were given the gift of his spark and his sparkle,
Put out not that flame with our tears.
Are we angry he’s gone, or just mad at ourselves,
For not living and loving each day?
It’s our turn to take what he’s given to us,
To make sure that spark will remain.
Let us not mourn what was taken from us
Let us celebrate that which was given to us.
Let us live, let us grow, in the warm afterglow,
Let that spark live now and forever in us.