A little girl
no more than three years of age
pedals her little princess bicycle
with training wheels
ahead of her father
She’s bubbling over
with purest joy
to be out with her Daddy
rolling along the sidewalk
beneath the summer sun
to think how much beer
I have to put away
to feel a fraction of that joy
only to be mocked by the devil
as I’m left sickened
and soul-numbed
by my efforts
the child sees the feral cats
on my porch and her joy
defies common adult
emotional gravity:
“Cats!” she cries out,
“Meow-meow! Cats!”
Her happiness brightens
the intense July sun
in all the best ways.
“These are good cats,”
she proclaims in confidence
as she rolls away from my
yard ahead of her father
“Good cats! Meow-meow!”
Her father turns to look
me before disappearing
behind the fence
separating my property
from the neighbors
We exchange respectful
nods with our bland smiles
I’m thinking, Man, if you
only knew how quickly
this all goes away
as sure as the approaching fall
will kill the grass and flowers
and the winter goes to work
on our very spirits
(Hot as it is, the leaves begin
changing four weeks from now.)
at least that man riding with his child
is riding with his child and letting her
shout her bliss without comment
you’ve only so many seasons of this
my good man, before that child
forgets joy to become
something awful
and ordinary
like us grownups
to whom this
child oh so innocently
looks up and admires
I look up to God and beg
forgiveness for not doing better
by my own children
and for maybe a taste of that joy
to feel such uncorrupted happiness
may the brightness of it
purify my very soul
it’s as if we recreate the Fall
every time a child
enters puberty
God, let us all be
as Your children
in Heaven
so eager to leave our beds
in the mornings
dreading nothing
just happy to be here
happy to be riding with the Father
in eternal blue-sky morning
happy for the sunshine
and the very good creatures
we meet along the way.
