Discovery Drafts

  Young Odin on the Beach I am thinking of you at 80 Telling me in your mind You are 25 And railing against infirmity As I study Mom’s photo of you On the beach with a T-shirt in hand: You are tall, thin, young, And your hair is swept In a curling wave. She was looking up And looking at you When she snapped this image Of you in your wiry youth In that place you found home-- The water. You are unaware of the camera As it takes you in By the edge of the ocean, Eternity a mere lapping wave, A background song, Or so it seemed When it was all ahead of you, To a story that would be written In sand Time and again. Remembering Dad on his 81st birthday, 24 August 2020.

You gave me this day And the first shoes Out of which grew The sturdy legs that walk it. You gave me this day: The poem I breathe Into the sunshine and grass, The sky and clouds Of eternal childhood. Eternal mother I take a step, breathe, And thank you.