People Missing in Life

Happy family photo sitting
on the mantel
where the future unfurls
potential for everything
in each smile
anxious to get started
with independent living
but one by one the reaper
reaps, taking souls
to that place beyond
while the others weep
at the loss of love
a gaping hole where
others stood
forever changing life
like when dad asked us
to stand in line 
for a spanking 
waiting for the strike 
left us anxious and crying
missing the love
that held us together 
tumbling into

a chronic ache.