Oh, How I Cried

It was summertime and healing from the winter’s dark Felt like memories were alone and silent, warring with the doubts Leaves green and dancing with the breeze, wings of hope Laughing at the lost moments when we played tag with hide n’ seek It was a game, summer’s cure for the past that was all pain Clouds of melancholy folded into shadows where Michael gave us All the ice cream and root beer we could eat and drink, consume With overwhelming urgency, appetites for a home cooked meal Crushed beneath the sugary syrup and cold vanilla breath It was summertime, before the moon and stars caught up With twinkle of fireflies in a Mason jar, quarts of shimmering Lights, delighting our hearts and our thoughts with their breathless Glow, their embers alive with silent joy, amazing music only Discovered in the dusk, just before day fled into the ebony distance It was summertime and Michael wore his camouflage fatigues After the Army, he never seemed without some tale, flickering images Moments of comical whims delighting, inviting the twinkles, laughter In Granny’s clear, blue eyes – alive with the love she had for him The youngest boy of six siblings, all gone off on their own now Inspired by the croaking frogs on the edges of a summer evening Blended with hearts who were beating hope, light, love… Before Michael would leave, dying beneath the heavy cruelty His alcoholism wore him down to a shadow of the child she’d known The man who laughed so that he seemed to vibrate, tremble With the joy that poured forth from his throat, his wonderous light It was summertime when he died and I mourned… oh, how I cried 2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 11 Poetry Contest Sponsor: Mark Toney August 3, 2022