Walking the Child 

Your flickering comfort is here with us

As we stride, he and I

Little Liam riding his bike, stopping now and again

Saying to you, “You would like it here, by golly!”

The geese, the stream

And me

Lost in my ruminations, your heaven within my earth

And his –

He hands me a stick to walk with

He has whittled its end

Like yours, he tells me,

“Like my Gramp’s, by golly!”

You’re living on in him, Dad

And in me

Always, always

In our pledges of pain, our laggard steps

Following in your own

Onward, we’re Grandpa’s team now!

Our great celebration for you inside

Where, as here, beavers have done their landscaping

You never know what you’ll mean to someone

A young boy, the masses

Until you’re gone –

Remember how your hand held mine

As we walked each day?

And I would reach to pet Meng’s kitty

Around and around merry go round stop sign

To your songs –

And then we’d listen for the tinkle-plop of a stone in the well

And under the magic pine tree we’d have tea

Eat a pine needle treat

Then around the corner we’d roll down the hill

Only to scramble back up and roll down again

And if it was muddy, we’d laugh

Off to the maple tree for a hat, a nose so sticky!

And then

I remember the melancholy was palpable

On the day, that day, I chose friends over you

A neighborhood boy capturing my attention

How suddenly I left you walking alone –

And now you, me

The onslaught of death, how I hurried home with prayers

Please God, don’t take my father!

Tears didn’t matter anymore, only our twinfire eyes

Daddy thank you, Dad of gentleness, how we miss you

Your spirit sings inside us, always the music

And for you, the dearest of applause.

©  2012 Christine Thomas Tsen.  All Rights Reserved