Crossing Over

Just coming back from the funeral, it was a 2,637.8 mile drive and a real journey of the soul.

Crossing Over

Highways can be hypnotic
And memories can be a treasure
But all of it depends on how you think
And what you do.

As the landscape changes
From verdant green
To tumbleweeds
And the hills flatten out
Across the prairie.

The endless miles stretch out
Ahead and behind
Narrowing to a point
In the dead level distance.

As I drove along
Alone in my thoughts
I tried to remember
A world long forgotten.
And often ignored.

I am holding onto my father’s back
As he crawls across the floor
Laughing with glee
As he snorts like a horse.

I can still feel the warmth
Of his skin
And the texture of his hair
Rising and falling
Without a care in the world.

He took us snow sledding
And he took me to the bank
As I watched him across the decades
Talk, joke,
Help and heal.

Those days are gone
And now, I am the father
More than aware
Of all that I am
And will never be.

The shots rang out
In three sharp volleys
Echoing over
The fields of grain.

The flag was shown
And then it was folded
Given by a grateful nation
To the last
From the first.

I wrote a poem
But I did not read it
Because sometimes words
Are just not enough
And seem useless and forced.

At the end
My little boy walked forward
And gently rubbed the box
Waved and said “bye bye”
Just as if, he was there.

Goosebumps spread out
As I felt a rush of air
As my son said
“Yes, Yes”
Over and over again.

The world spreads out
Pitted, warped, and skewed
Slanted against the good
Every step of the way.

But as men we live
And as men we die
From here until forever
To love, live and try.

The white stones
Stretch out before us
In perfect rows
Known and unknown
Sacrificed and immortal.

Their lives elongate
And lengthen like shadows
Far above what we have known
And far greater
Than what we have done.

I held my son
And kissed his cheek
Soft, sweet and pure
And I looked into his eyes
Everything shared
And understood.

The world is, what it is
But I shall do what I can
Taking my place
In the rows of time.

God put that spark in your eye
And he gave me the spirit
That flows through
His heart
A gift we don’t deserve
But can never lose.