His eyes died first
Our father’s
They have lost their hues of warships blue,
Surrendered to dim gray marshlands of what’s due
Wearing the same suit he goes to work,
Talks to himself at breakfast not with me or about you
A murmur through his dry lips, shadowed eyes of a longing he doesn’t know
Says he “No need for me for him or you”
His voice died next
Our father’s
No longer does he burst into his thundering laughter
You know the one that ends with a teardrop on each eye
Instead he fakes a smile at dinner, and kisses me goodnight on the forehead Before he goes to bed at eight, right after
For eight is his favoured number, and brother, his doctor’s too
Don’t linger on, for if you do you’ll pass the hour
His soul died yesterday,
Our father’s
He played no more that game you know
Of what ifs and how ifs, if we had colossal doe
Of the homes we’d build in long far island,
Of the vast green gardens with hyacinths red and white
Gifts from the god of sun,
Only us, in a desolate land…
But above all, his trunk died today,
Our father’s
A stroll in the forest, he is weak and haggard, walk he cannot
Breathes heavily while he throws himself on the grass
“I’ll beat it again” he says, but see he lies
For he has but cut you and me and all his ties
I watch him there and a moment comes
When the forest takes him under her arms,
An embrace of green to his ear it hums
From a honey bee’s mouth a song unknown,
Recognize he does with a smile once.
And in those moments right before my eyes
He surrenders willingly and closes his eyes
And you know what brother, what I realise
He has always been hers, belonged to the trees and grass his true ties,
For it is from her, the forest, that comes his breezy spirit
His temperament wild, his raw demeanour
See he is but the King of the earth, hear him roar
It was neither mother nor you or me
He was always owned by the Queen of Forests, that untamed whore
So hurry brother for this man has consented,
The moment he closed his eyes to embrace his green beloved.
Author of six published books, 2 in English, one upcoming fantasy novel in English “MaXistra:Tales of Fortune” to be published abroad. Raised in Spain an the UK, I have won prizes for creative writing. I write in 3 languages.