Homeward Bound (Excerpts)
Memories from our few shared years
In ordered sequence pass my mind
Holding you close in loving arms
My dreams replay – our time near gone.
Carried by the gentle current
Life’s scenes appear - each not for long
Fading as they flow on past me
They stairstep slowly from my view
...The body now with vibrancy gone,
Weakened by the death within,
No longer grants the simple wish,
To summon strength to even stand.
Energy once endless to run and play
Struggles now to survive the day.
In contrast with a weakened frame,
Your eyes pierce with lightened looks
strength of soul is carried by them
A well of wisdom within their gaze
Telling thoughts with words unspoken
You’ve insights granted greater than me.
Again the eyes,
There is depth I see,
A constant light
Where none should be.
Conflicting images
I see in you,
Trying to accept
They both must be.
A dying frame –
Yet divinity.
The joy, the pain
They both compete
Oh to be filled by one
And emptied of the other
While seeking the calm
Of a Father’s balm.
The joy is easier to abide
For it swells, uplifts,
Sustains, enriches.
Gifting hope I can press on.
But pain – not absent,
Ebbing, flowing – ever present,
Born of fear of pending loss,
Taunting whether I can endure…