Joy and Pain of Memories
He is now a band of sky,
a bird, a cloud, a stream of blue
drifting by in midafternoon,
a dragonfly, a butterfly, a ray of light dancing by,
a sheet of loose paper floating in the wind
with my poem scribbled on it.
He now rides in the rippling waves of Everglades
that glisten in the summer sun.
He comes to me in feelings deepening -
in gravity, energy, peace, commotion, the tide.
He is forever August, forever June…
an ocean wave never reaching the shore
(the sand and sun evermore),
a smile, a tear, laughter that never ends,
a child’s young, inquisitive mind, a friend,
the sweet voices of home,
the comfort of my favorite place, in a photo
or the sun upon my face.
Perhaps, he’s eternal summer, youth running with ease
in his favorite shorts and flip-flops,
hair sun-bleached tumbling free,
or one feather floating high on the ocean breeze.
I often see his face in fluffy clouds blurred beyond my tears,
singing sixties rock-and-roll, a country song or hymn.
He is the music playing in my ear again and again
and the warm, tropical air filling me within.
He lives in the cozy log cabin in a clearing of pines
and in the largemouth bass jumping
from the lake at dawn’s break,
He’s the tortoise sunning on the shore, the buck running wild,
the heartbeat of a father that cried
when he held his baby for the first time.
He is my joyful memories, a new day and the seconds
I live till I see him again. He is the wind calling my name,
dancing with the leaves on the trees…
he is water, he is air, he is in my eyes and theirs.
He is in Heaven but his love is everywhere.
My dad passed away June 21, 2002. He was 52 years old.
Summer was his favorite time of year and is the season I miss him most.
Written, 3/7/15 for The Pain of Night Contest
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