Once there was, up on the shelf, a prominent display
Of books I loved to read, familiar words, and pictures, too
Sometimes leafing through them, as the hours slipped away
Perspective, balance, ways of life, the things my father knew...
I kept them grouped together, an eclectic sort of set
Dad's dictionary, atlas, and a storybook or two
His old encyclopedia, and books where one could get
Insight into humor, music, words, to name a few
The books were warm and comfy, well made bindings, slightly worn
With leather and fine lettering, his name inscribed in each
Remarkably well-kept, few pages stained, few pages torn
I loved the way they felt, his life seemed always within reach
Then came the day when doctors saw the change in my dad's health
And checked him in, to spend his last days lying in a bed
His books began to disappear, a quickly thinning shelf
One by one, and I could see what loomed, not far, ahead
I saved some photocopies, favorite pages, tucked away
Quotes and facts, jotted down on pastel Post-It notes
A picture of the bookshelf as it looked "back-in-the-day"
Collected memories, along with favorite anecdotes
And now I keep these in a box, these pages that belonged
Years ago, to books that were my father's life on earth
A distillation, vintage wine, a well-remembered song
A symphony that stretches back in time, to my dad's birth!
The originals are gone, no hint of where to find them now
An empty space, in their place, with dust up on the shelf
And yet my box of keepsakes* helps remind me that, somehow,
My dad has come to be a very real part of myself
How glad I am that I spent time enjoying all of these
When dad was quite alive, and all the books were there to read
And I could lose myself within the pages when I pleased
Talking with the man, himself, quite a friend, indeed
And so, I slip his denim jacket on, and in my chair,
Recline, a box of keepsakes* held within my lap, and leaf
Through all the mem'ries I have saved, then finding, when I dare,
The shelf appears, and with it, all the books that once were there
I guess there's now a bookshelf, with books that bear my name
Consulted when a daughter calls me up, to shoot the breeze
Maybe it's much like the way I saw my dad, the same
Old warm, unchanging bookshelf, holding my books, that she sees
*author's note - there is no physical "box of keepsakes," but rather a handful of objects in our home, and memories...
There was a family long ago, two boys, two girls, who sat
To have their picture taken for the family's mantel-top
Perhaps they played at Snow's Pond on the family land there, that,
Across the years, became a favorite summer picnic-stop
Great aunt's cottage peeking out, as sandy beach sweeps past
Fragrant pines reflected in the ripples, mostly blur
Memories and fantasies of childhood, held fast
In cousins' conversations, where beach and sun endure
Captured in a painting made in nineteen forty four
By a man, to conjure hope, my uncle would survive
To see the longed-for end of the second World War
To come home, whole, to this man's daughter, happy, and alive
In the home where I grew up, it hung upon the wall
Gifted by a hero, and a gentle, well-loved brother
To his younger sister, who then hung it in the hall
The girl who grew up to become, as time went by, my mother
My uncle was a warm man, it was nice to share his name
Quiet like the pond, with a sweep of sandy hair
My mother, dark-haired, strong, and deeply good, but not the same
With certain country walls across which we could never share
The painting, so well-loved, hangs upon my own wall now
The arc of sandy beach suggests connection to the past
A walk to take to see my mom, her brother, too, somehow
Fragrance, warmth, and water in a place that will outlast
The turbulance of war, and times of mystery now lost
Generations, hoping, all, for family love each day
Not a rocky beach, by stormy ocean wildly tossed
Instead, a lovely, sandy pond, where happy children play
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