We'd wake up early to drink hot,
black coffee in the summer heat -
because you believe the heat
of the coffee will help keep us cool as we...
walk to the garden,
pull
up carrots whole out of the earth
and
pick and eat concord grapes -
until
we can't eat anymore and then go
sit on the front porch, in those
aluminum bouncy chairs,
re-painted and re-painted in
bright,
cheery,
colors.
I'd look, unapologetic, at your
silver, course, curls
and stare into your beautifully tan
handsome face -
and will my straight, dark hair
silver
and my skin golden brown -
longing to
embody
your glorious,
shimmering
glow.
I'd open my ears to catch each
syllable and note
of your Welsh tenor voice
and turn up the volume
to record into my memory:
"How Great Thou
Art",
thrilling stories of wild bears
and worlds no
one had ever seen.
Somehow your voice, your song, and
your imagination
-
would always bring me back to life.
I'd open my mouth wide,
to breathe in all the oxygen of you
that I could
to exhale my joy and love for
you,
in a rollicking laugh
- a twinning sound
that we share,
to this day.
You see me, know me and love
me.
We share part of the same soul
or mind
- or something, I still don't have words
to explain.
Ceremoniously, as night draws near,
you reach out
and gently place into
the
palms of my
expectant hands
- too-many-quarters
and
say,
"Till next time."
..."Till the next time."
Poem written in honor of "Grandpap" John Dunn
Copyright August 2020 Tara L. Eastman
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