when I see my mother's worried eyes
and I know that I let her down
I wish I could go back in time
and turn my life around

the sky is dark
but I know somewhere south
blue hair and blue eyes
look north to
brown hair and brown eyes
and inside of me I am filled with sun

i don't remember the day you decided to leave
the pills were pink
this is the only thing I know for sure

the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen
often hid behind wrinkled bags of skin
they belonged to my darling Elva
who loved flowers and family
in her disease, she was always concerned about the well being of her garden
sometimes, she cried out for her mother
she was eighty seven

and although she is gone
when I look up at the summer sky
I can see the color of her irises and
I know she is up there in her garden
and I can imagine her mother is too

fat yellow hens are the best chickens
in the whole world
I had one once, and her name was Buffy
to this day, I know she was a drop of sun
Her only wish, to warm the hearts of those around her

in my backyard there is an old red chicken coop
the doors swing sluggishly and the hinges groan in the wind
inside, two homemade nesting boxes sit crudely  nailed to the wall
only the roost stands tall and proud, like the generations of roosters who stood on it in the days of my youth

Lola walks much slower now than she used to
Her round spotted paws seem as if they are made of lead
she no longer bays her soul out
And she seems to eat much less

But her tongue is still posey pink
And her ears are still as soft as cotton
sometimes you can see her powerful nose snuffling around, weary of some wild animal's scent

And while she is long past her prime,
in her soulful eyes you can see that the love she has for the world has not and will not grow old