Nine Dragons Poet Free verse

As If You Were Here

I peeked in.
She was whispering her prayers
I had brought her Easter basket from the stairs
Along a trail of candy wrappers, discarded
I watched her speak in guarded frail tones
Imperfect prayer wording, like my lyrics
Of The Rolling Stones. "Leffwe uncaboose mah shelf"
I had happily sung for years
How such a little brain could play such tricks
Before I wore my more mature ears
I still sing those lines to myself
Even after all these years.

Quietly I sat the basket aside
And knelt down beside
I listened to each cutely spoken mistake
Knowing the warm glowing memories they'd make
And how I would hold them dear
When she was grown and long gone from here
Off in her own sphere
All grown up-
No more "daddy dear..."
No more favorite pony cup
And almost shedding that tear
That would always get her, her way
Cuz daddy's little daughter knows daddies
Are made of sugar and soft pliable clay

She really enjoyed Easter day.
Even sang her heart out in the choir
She seems like a living reverent pyre
A golden tribute, a warm comforting fire

Thank you Lord for giving her back to me
She lives in two worlds now simultaneously
They both really love Easter
And sure I like it too
But I'm sure our reasons
Are prolly diff'rent
As to life its seasons
Yet timeless in the joy each lent

I remember the things I said in a prayer
I swear, every Easter takes me back there
When I had all the time in the world
And not a care

I sat, and you unfurl'd
I reminisced as if you were there



I liked the Easter Bunny
He's soft and fuzzy
He leaves chocolate eggs and money
Sometimes he'd leave us each fifty dollars
And in the morning our
House was hoops and hollers
Man was dad ever sour
Mom straightened our collars
We had to go church you know
And on the ride the sun would
Glare through the window
We tried to stay as nice as we could
But momma knew,
We always heard her laugh
As we bolted out of view
Dad had barely parked Ole Betty
On 25th and 3rd Avenue
We always were set on our pew
When Reverend Cole was ready
Those colored window panes
Always made the organ music feel so strange
Like we were listenin' to angel's heavenly strains
Least that's how momma said it sounded
All the applause made her smile as it resounded
And echoed off the old wood walls
And vaulted ceilings like we really sitting
In the real heaven's halls
I know for momma it's fitting
And she always hears our loving calls
I miss her much, lookin at her antique porcelain dolls
So small and all those little bitty details
But compared to momma their beauty pales
It musta been some good artist made those things
But God made our mom perfect—
And then he gave her wings
I bet she's up there right now smilin' down
In one of them fancy glowin' nightgowns
Wings just-a-flappin'
Gossipin' like nuthin's happen'
Whatchin' over us and Dad
Maken sure we don't make him mad
Don't worry—we've grown up some
We're just makin' sure he never gets too lonesome
You know he'll just run us off n stuff
When he's had enough

You know...
Sometimes looking back is more than that
It's seeing old memories crowd the welcome mat
Letting 'em in and letting 'em stay a while
Giving ourselves the freedom to reflect
And permission to smile
To just let go—
And say it really doesn't see all that long ago

Well, I better get our little sleepy-head
Off to bed

Durned if she don't look just like you
And she's an angel just like you, it's true
A living porcelain doll given a blushing hue
Her little glowing halo—
And wings I give her too

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