Verse Love 26: Day 29: Of the Woods

Our Verse Love Hosts are poets I have long admired, Barb Edler and Glenda Funk, who churn out poems that call to my heart as if it were their missions in life. Today, they invite us to choose a topic important to us, one that lifts a shroud to reveal what others may not typically see. For years, I have written unshared missives about the loss of my family after my husband's shattering decision to leave our family as we were about to become grandparents. I've been sad, embarrassed and climbed slowly out of the dark hole thanks to writing bits and pieces about the loss and bravely sharing and receiving feedback from this community. 

Today I am sharing a poem loosely based on my cherished grands which is about anyone you might wonder about and love even though they are missing from your life. I am sharing this version from the perspective of a child,

I used to ask about him, wondering

If he liked to hike in the mountains, or wade

With shells in the morning, like she does, 

I learned answers were empty 

Like mom's eyes when I asked

If he bear-hugged when she was sad, or played 

Football and catch like my uncle, or 

Stole her Halloween candy, or was her best friend?

It seemed as if the questions had no answer, so

Imagine if he were merely lost, took a wrong turn,

A journey into a dark, dense woods where 

Tangled brush holds you from moving forward or 

Back to those you love. Where dark shadows

Fill his heart with sadness, questions, misplaced

Love. Where he he wanders alone, 

Wondering how tall I am, whether I love

Science (I do) and which flavor

I would choose at the ice cream shop (chocolate)

And if I think of him (I do), if there is a pathway

Out of the woods (I hope so).