The red maple tree
was a chord you set down
planted at the edge of the lawn
when I was born
you said it was
for the butterfly catcher
who will grow up
to gather up the cosmos
I disappointed
by staying low, a shrub no taller than your irises
Your granddaughter
inherited your songs instead
understands tempo
that shapeless country
of time signatures that counts ideas in seeds
She rambles across sheet music
turns that scattering
into the glitter of song
You've crossed the bridge of night
now you are lost in the stars,
You add to the Milky Way
your off-beat insights
still singing poetry
with Kurt Weil, Lenya, and Lees
your words traveling through
the heavens with Mackie Messer
who knifes the mysteries
You give it all verse
counting inspiration in the deep
your genius out there
where the moon's white mask
appears on stage each night
with requiems and prayers
giving stage directions
to the earth below.
Oct 9, 2017
Oct 9, 2017 at 1:38 AM UTC
The red maple tree
was a chord you set down
planted at the edge of the lawn
when I was born
you said it was
for the butterfly catcher
who will grow up
to gather up the cosmos
I disappointed
by staying low, a shrub no taller than your irises
Your granddaughter
inherited your songs instead
understands tempo
that shapeless country
of time signatures that counts ideas in seeds
She rambles across sheet music
turns that scattering
into the glitter of song
You've crossed the bridge of night
now you are lost in the stars,
You add to the Milky Way
your off-beat insights
still singing poetry
with Kurt Weil, Lenya, and Lees
your words traveling through
the heavens with Mackie Messer
who knifes the mysteries
You give it all verse
counting inspiration in the deep
your genius out there
where the moon's white mask
appears on stage each night
with requiems and prayers
giving stage directions
to the earth below.
©marywinslow2016 all rights reserved. This is also a re-post. I've been going through my poems and re-posting some, deleting others. I miss my father every day. He was the quality and brilliance in life.
