You smile in a picture on a shelf
and whenever I pass I greet you
as a boy passing the waiting dog
that Dad had said he couldn't play with
until after homework
I salute you with a sigh that climbs a long ladder from a deep pain
though the Lord of all worlds
had slammed shut in my face that most unlovely door
leaving you in pearlescent light and me inside the shadows of a willow weeping
An eyebrow arches to hold aloft your eyes like Chinese lanterns glowing as they drift away
soon to fall
And no one but me will know
that I'd taken that photo on the very day
your left lung collapsed
cancer clutching like coal in a cave
May 27, 2017
May 27, 2017 at 3:50 AM UTC
You smile in a picture on a shelf
and whenever I pass I greet you
as a boy passing the waiting dog
that Dad had said he couldn't play with
until after homework
I salute you with a sigh that climbs a long ladder from a deep pain
though the Lord of all worlds
had slammed shut in my face that most unlovely door
leaving you in pearlescent light and me inside the shadows of a willow weeping
An eyebrow arches to hold aloft your eyes like Chinese lanterns glowing as they drift away
soon to fall
And no one but me will know
that I'd taken that photo on the very day
your left lung collapsed
cancer clutching like coal in a cave
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