April wears thin
where she once
started startling
us warm she has
returned cold today
and still my father sleeps
in and out of presence
sometimes here sometimes
in the next world
i think sometimes people travel
in that no man’s land and come back
mostly that first foot cannot be retrieved
the second just follows on taking
the sojourner full circle back the Alpha and Omega
here tolerance both increases and wears thin
we barely tolerate ourselves exiled her far
from the lovers we have come to call home
buried back here in the bosom of old memories
emotions revisit from childhood mothers are us
and our children but still live in the 91 year old
woman who birthed these five offspring, we gather
seeking the peace that will let my father go free
we wish for the sweet relief that will return us to
a life that seems far from here, and yet how to
wish for the final loss of a clan father, our tribal
faith knows eternity we sit under some immense
wings seeking shelter and comfort while wind
blows outside bringing Spring on the harshness
of loss babies who will never know the voice of
the great great grandfather we need to make funeral
arrangement he says thinking of us with his last
strength. It is hard to say good-bye.
Poet Jude's Poetry 