Sir John David Maccabes: On the Death of Thom Henry

With grief-laden hearts, did we drink of our sadness:
For the death of Thom Henry was a shock to us all!
For a lad so young, we believed death, so distant;
And the death of Thom Henry was a shock to us all!

With no stomach for talk, and no strength for remembering;
We attempted forgetting—but attempted in vain!
For the memory of one so impressed in our memories
Left a sorrow so piercing, only numbness remained.

With a heart filled with pain, filled with anger, and sadness
Did we curse our existence for the lives that remained!
For our lives, one and all, we'd have given up gladly,
In exchange for the one life, we could not have saved.

So, with grief-laden hearts, did we drink of our sadness:
For the death of Thom Henry was a shock to us all!
For a lad so young, we believed death, so distant;
And the death of Thom Henry was a shock to us all!