child's wish

Child's Wish

My daddy's sleeping,
In front of his guest,
Wearing his Sunday clothes.
All his friends and family gathered,
To sit by, to watch him sleep.
Mothers and brothers, aunts and sisters,
Uncles, sons and daughters converging, crying.
The minister orchestrating solemnity,
Quiet now.
Close the cover on his mahogany bed,
Uncles carry it away.

                   Where are they taking daddy?

Farther away, where you have ever been.

                    Let's follow; he's up there,
                    I know, the cars driving slowly.

In the light rain,
He sets down no more tracks.

                   Through the city,
                   over the river,
                   To grandma's house?

Up a narrow road,
To a meadow,
Beside a field of corn.
Polarized.

A crack in the rain,
The sun winks,
Goodbyes said,
Tears swallowed,
We leave the meadow.
Polarized.

                 Looking through the raindrops
                 On the car window,
                 Hoping daddy's not sad.

By David Semans