Could I But Speak

This sonnet is a tribute to Reid Jones and his family. Reid was a severely handicapped boy who lived to be 21 years old, well beyond the years predicted for his life. This past week marks the one year anniversary of his passing. He was blind and unable to speak and spent his entire life in a reclining wheelchair. Throughout that time, Reid was cared for heroically by his father, mother and two sisters. All who witnessed their care for Reid testify to the gentle and sweet love they bestowed upon him, and the many times they read to him from God's Word. Reid's father told me that though they are at peace with Reid's death and believe he is in heaven with Jesus, sometimes they are randomly hit with heavy, somber feelings of missing him. His mother, who loves all things Shakespearian and exposed her son to many of Shakespeare's works, told me that a woman recently had a dream that Reid was in heaven, showing her around his room. He had "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" on his shelf and said, "Yeah, he stops by every now and then to talk." With all that in mind, I offer this sonnet, as though written from Reid's perspective. I wrote it using singular "thee" rather than plural "ye" because I picture Reid standing before each family member and reading it to them individually, purposefully encouraging each one. May it bless you, dear Jones family.



Could I but speak a word or two to thee,
On days when heaviness might fill thine eyes,
When emptiness and loss cannot but feel
As weights, to pull thy melancholy sighs;
When wings of doubt might flutter 'round thine heart,
And cast grey-shadowed questions by-and-by,
"The things done here on earth, were they enough?
Didst he receive our tender love thereby?"
Yes, could I speak a word or two to thee -
To thee who loved with overflowing grace
The soul immortal, trapped in body deep,
Forever looking well beyond my face -
'Twould be a word from Heaven's sweetest breeze
For such thee were on earth who lovedst me.