The Missing
Just a grainy photo
in a missing persons file
A blurry time worn image
of a fading face and smile
Forgotten people through the cracks
have slipped and gone away
By whose hand to God knows where
there is no clue to say
They wandered off the beaten path
into the mists of time
A piece of fruit plucked from a tree
A vanishing, sublime
Some disappearing so complete
as though they never were
The myths and legends they became
our haunted memories stir
Of what befell the missing
many theories abound
like ghostly campfire stories
that keep getting passed around
But they were once like you and I
with lives and plans and dreams
'til something swept them from the Earth
without a trace it seems
And through the years the families
are left with gaping holes
An emptiness the size and shape
of all these long lost souls
And many are the ones whose absence
never will be solved
They took a walk and they were gone
as if they just dissolved
From scientists to engineers
to little girls and boys
whatever snatched them from our lives
no preference employs
And sadly, nearly every day
a brand new face and smile
becomes another photo
in a missing persons file
Mike Wise
11-12-19
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