Requiem For My Father

see the stars you say in the gloaming night

my tiny hand in yours

here is the world through my daddy’s eyes

up higher than high on a shoulder ride

in from our porch with the day’s dying light

sleep tight, little flower, good night

build it strong you say as the summer melts

but i make my house from a heap of sticks

that blow away in the wind

your hammer falls, a rising wall

a fine little playhouse for me

play hard, little flower, be free

hike the woods you say, through green-dampened sun

we stride side by side through the buzz

i step on their nest and i freeze and i scream

and although i’m near grown, you carry me home

their venom your own misery

you’re too sweet, little flower, too sweet

but one night you sleep, and you don’t wake up

why did the heavens not cry?

a trillion cells, a silenced heart

the dust of the stars turning bright

i go to the porch and i look to the sky

to seek out the undimmable light

good bye, my sweet father, good night