Andrew Calhoun - Grandfather’s Time

Grandfather's Time

Here's the scar from the time
When we climbed to the roof
Where the wood was rotten,
And we flew to the floor.
Here is the closet
Where I asked you to hide me,
And I slumped in the darkness
Till the game was over.

Here is the candle
That we made for Mother's Day;
Through all of these years
Flame never touched it.
Here are father's shoes,
See the spider web in one;
And dust on the toes
From here to kingdom come.

Here is sister's little room
With the private sink and mirror,
And the snowy alcove
With the rocking chair.
Here is grandfather's time
Where you lay on a Thursday,
Suspended in sunbeams
In a sleeping barn.

Here's the first kiss
That you ever have
From the only one
That you will ever love.
Here is the shadow,
And the hand grown thirsty,
And the patience unbound,
And the dream of the end.