well look who's back
Omi and Opi
flew in from dreamland
settled in our tree
nested by the bird seed
grampa always hid
he knew the good spots
so of course they did!
downy woodpeckers
you may call these things
they're my elder sparks
grand spirits with wings
Once upon a memory
I'd dream of we three
walking by our big lake
my granddad and me
to their eternal rest
they were finally sent
but came back to visit
from wherever they went
All tears dried we hear
but if heaven's so swell
then tell me why them
leaving hurts like hell?
Maybe they knew I
couldn't cope alone
didn't want to leave me
again on my own
so they came each night
then they had to leave
these nocturnal visits
always made me grieve
it must be hard when
earthlings hold you tight
but I was stuck too
in a death grip plight
then one night they said
I must let them go
perhaps it hurt them
to see me hurt so
so I did so they did
cease to visit me
must have been ready
for I didn't even see
they live in recall
verses woven in foam
yet it seems they found
a new place to call home
I hang a feeder
in the backyard tree
like they always did
where birds love to be
when the seed runs out
they scold and nag me
they keep on dining
when I walk to the tree
we startle each other
it's quite an affray
we laugh and beg pardon
he never flies away
perched supervising
feeder filling time
I fully comprehend
his mute pantomime
and in the evening
when birds go to bed
I still see friendly
shade shadows in my head
elder sparks hover
in twilight requiem
I daren't blink or move
lest I might miss them
these feathered fairies
whatever they may be
neither fact nor fiction
still drop in on me
now we've gone gentler
in dark night of soul
in fairy fragments
I find full-moon whole
a back dune meander
Elysian daydreams
driftwood and fireflies
Tlingit moonbeams
now play hide and seek
for grandpa is silly
when the moon is new
no light we can see
like he always did
bidding me goodnight
began to shut the door
thereby dousing the light
it was just pretend
just so I would howl
always left it open
my dear wise old owl
sacred was the ritual
bed bugs and sleep tight
moonshine wish kisses
hugs with all our might
my elders sparks still
twinkle for us to see
never shut the door and
leave the moonlight on for me
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