(no subject)

III - These New Tears

It's a new day, already,
but the parents
of the deceased,
having surrendered
momentarily
to the tortured mercy
of sleep,
are not aware of it;

too soon, they will
once more wake
to the nightmare
of her untimely death
and the grieving
(thought by others
to have had
but one beginning)

will once more seem
as fresh
and wet as
these
new
tears... 

R.I.P.
Bianca Laura Vocke
1990 ~ 2007

(no subject)

II - Just the Facts

Of the (6) motor vehicle fatalities reported in the state of Iowa for the week ending December 14, 2007, (4) involved drivers under the age of 25. One of them, Dubuque high school senior Bianca Vocke, was only 17.

In addition, (5) of the (6) victims, including Vocke, were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident. In the remaining case, the seatbelt data is listed as unknown.

Since first reporting Vocke's accident on its website, the Dubuque Colts Drum & Bugle Corps, of which she was a member, has vowed to make driver safety an educational priorty of the corps.

It is their hope that, by so doing, her death may not have been in vain.

THREE, IN MEMORIUM

Watch on YouTube

I - Among the Trees

The Crossmen's brass line stands at attention, like a colonial rifle company, among the trees.

The booming, silver bells of the contra bass are at its center and briefly flash, from the shadows, as they are raised.

The "Dark Horse Chorale" is played in honor of one who once stood with them, in the brass line, among the trees...