Beautiful darkness, beautiful shadow
I still hear her melodic whistle in my head.
Four simple notes that eased my mind.
Let me know she was safe, let me know she was fine.
She was so beautiful, so pure.
The flame that was her life so quickly snuffed out.
She was lovable, she was light
I fell into love with her, though I never knew her
She was the face of innocence, of all things good.

She made her way into all of our hearts, that girl.
Her mischievous smile, her reserved manner
Her trust was so hard to earn, yet so sacred
She was adored by her whole community
Loved, cherished
Until that fateful day, when her name was plucked from that wretched bowl
Just as quickly as her precious life was plucked from ours.

She was primped and she was prepped
Until she was hardly ours any more
Her value marked down upon a board to two numbers “60-1”
As if that was all that she was worth to anyone
But sadly, the odds were not in her favor

She was so close to winning, yet so very far.
But that stupid, stupid girl let her die.
Let her go off by herself, let her become trapped, let the light leave her eyes.
She claimed that she loved her, but she didn’t protect her.
Oh beautiful shadow, come back to us.
You should be the victor, you should be the survivor.

But, somewhere above the clouds I know she lives
Just as she does in our hearts today
Dancing and singing, and humming along with the mockingjays
Living her dreams, on those mockinjays’ wings
Surrendering her dog days away.