She Laughs No More - a Poem for Day Six of PAD (April 2017)

I'm a little behind, but I hope to catch up today. 

Here is the prompt for day six of PAD:

For today’s prompt, write a poem about a sound. The poem could be about a small sound, a loud sound, a happy sound, or a creepy sound. And yes, music sounds count as well.

Her Footsteps Are Gone

She Laughs No More

Restless child
murmurs sleep,
grasping sheets
for something
to hang onto—
comfort, peace.

Screeches fill
the midnight sky,
abduct innocence,
pillage dreams
rumbling underneath
imaginary safety
of shuttered
eyes.

Tiny fingers
slip
from the futile
grip
of adult guidance—
none left
in her world
as she takes
her final
gasp.

Off
in the distance,
a church bell
sways,
and clangs,
the only sound
left
in the rubble.

***