Through the Mist

Thoughts on fatherhood . 

My heart is leaking

With the drip, drip of sadness

Which gathers as

A pool of years

Of iridescent memories:

Memories of games

We played:

Football on the lawn,

Throw me on the settee,

Chase me like a dog.

Grand times of

Laughing eyes and hope.

Hope in the

Now and tomorrow-

Times when all there

Was to do was love:

Love in the laughter,

Love in the smiles

And the tight hugs

Which squeezed forth

The loving breath.

As I look back down

The misty road,

I see a figure

Running to-and-fro

From the heart to the mind,

From the mind to the heart.

I want to sweep you

Up, throw you high

And catch you in

Safe strong arms.

But you’re too heavy now.

I have thrown you

as a lofter throws a

Dove to its flap-winged

Freedom

And stood watching you circle, 

Looking for your way.

My heart stopped somewhere

Between flutters

As you struck off

On a flight path of

Your own.

A path to your tomorrow

And my today.