Circle of ancestors/those smiles/those hugs/those meals/laughter/truth/overflowing kindness/connecting over miles/when we departed/for the long trip home/across bridges/great divides/they would say/let the phone ring once/and we’ll know you’re home/safely home/listen/I heard it ring/

We didn’t care/that the sweltering asphalt/turned that air to wavy ribbons of light/they made us cool swimmers/lazing the days away/ fed and watered/we floated /under sky and cloud/canopies of trees/and we dreamed/dreams of parents who loved us desperately/behind gates and fences/and locked doors/we dreamed slow and simple dreams/those summers/in the Bronx backyard

Lunar communion/carried to the surface of the moon/I remember the grainy/black and white images/ our parents set up television/in our very room/unthinkable in those days/amid hissing static/we considered the monumental steps/the majestic effort/coming to know the honor of broken body/ cup of new covenants/travels with us/worlds without end

I was blessed/with wonderful grandmothers/though we never met/gifted by one grandly motherly/friend/adopted and grafted/to each others hearts/taught to age with grace and love/to craft of life’s lonely hours/the grandest of friendships/like a never ending/always growing/profusion of blooming lilac/and oh/the stories were woven/over the slowest of meals/taught to treasure the fleeting time/we lingered in purest joy

There’s a first time/frozen/standing in stiff hard boots/I tried to master the ability to stand up/all over again/without the supreme confidence/ of a new toddler/that somebody/somewhere/would not let me fall

Like the paper mobiles we made/the solar system perched/ in a shoe box/or a diorama/we’d like to think/we control the starscape/the cool beauty plumbed/remains elusive/remains/silvered distant/if not beyond our reach/mystery proves what we can know/fragile in victory/we race on

When I think of how simple life was/how fast we wanted to grow into adult sized dilemmas/ how they would say/slow down/you are trying to grow/Too fast/breakneck/We’d rush heedlessly on/years gone by/I found the child’s image/ he kept in his card fold/in his suit or shirt pocket/ close to his heart/wishing time would stand still/for us

When all is said and done/and the final words are spoken/petals crumbled/the turn taken/the seemingly normal duties of life resumed/a steady radar begins sweeping/homing signals activate/beyond our weary/sodden/broken hearts/we await the promise/of presence/the intimation of resurrection hoped for whispers

Cousins/share collective wisdom/beauty/joy in and beyond tears/strength/ love to walk into the future/together

When play is life/I remember/the passion and the fury/for each day/ to be stuffed with every possible exploration of joy/when play is life/I look at children able to be/children/able to/play overflowing/to be blessed/when play is life