When days end

The day will claim us all
The day, when days end.
It happens all the time,
It happened to a friend of mine
We once shared a house - my first out of home
My brother and I, and Darren our mate
Good times, and strange - the early years of adulthood
Negotiating responsibilities
a strange new world
Still a kid in many ways
But Darren, he had lived
yet died so young,
some years on
Returning triumphant to his home
New Zealand,
With degree in hand,
A nurse then
a car crash
ends it all.
A single moment kills all time
except for those left behind

The impact of a sudden blow -
Life is hard, and death takes all.
Strange how growth often starts in sadness.
It sent me on a different path
aligned to where my feet would pass
eventually.
So good can come from sadness
I suppose
If we can lift our heads to see the stars
that light the night they leave behind.