Why Is My Heart Surprised?
for my dad, the quiet captain of life
Why is my heart surprised?
I can break gravity
Skipping that happy child dance
Then I remember that blue tag
Hanging from my windshield mirror...
Why is my heart surprised?
Walking hand and hand with my dad
Delighting in those wondrous aero-antics...
Then I recall that those Blue Angels
Gave way to flights on the Wings of Eagles...
Why is my heart surprised?
Walking together each afternoon
On those Castaway docks
A strawberried toddler reciting,
Hammerhead, Bull Dolphin, Weakfish, Grouper
Then I remember my Captain sold his vessels
No more are those rocking tuna towers
Seen from those Sandy Shores of Miami..
Farewell, Spindle beak, Farewell Noble Shark...
Why is my heart surprised?
Flying in that squirrelly little tail-dragger
No more Luscombe tales, no more Eastern Flights
No more shouting in that noisy sky...
Piper Cub two o'clock!
Then I remember Carcinoid
Grounded my dear pilot..
Why is my heart surprised?
Suddenly, my heart caught my mind..
Today I recall...sadly,
My head informed my heart
I am no longer skipping that happy child dance
Instead...suddenly my heart
Is turkey ~ necked, old and tired...
Farewell, dear captain, Farewell, dear daddy...
(May 3,2005 ~ Bell's Island, North Carolina)
poem by Debora Short
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
