Pulse Nightclub: 2nd Anniversary

Arlene Blackman Yolles ♦ June 6, 2018 ♦ 6 Comments

In the early hours of June 12, 2016, 49 people were killed and 53 others wounded when a man with an assault rifle fired inside a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, FL, in what officials say was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.  We are coming up on the second anniversary of that tragedy.  In that light, I wanted to re-post the commemorative poem I composed in memory of those who lost their lives and those who mourn them.

The poem is inspired by one of the Songs for Orlando composed by my friend, composer and musician, Dr. Joe Utterback (http://joeutterback.com).  DEEP PEACE: the final Orlando work for the terrorist attack in Orlando, is now on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/y08LkzUBbm4

Below is my poem:

Pulse of Life

By Arlene Yolles

And I hear them laughing

And I see them smiling

And I wonder where they have gone now.

All the things they were in life

All the joys they brought

Are sweet memories we share now … cherish and cling to.

For the things they did and said,

For the plans they made,

Sweetly, softly, in our hearts they linger, linger.

But I see them everywhere

And I see them now

How can I tell them what they meant in life … and how they touch me still

How the Pulse of Life, when loved ones depart,

Beats forever in mind and heart.