Cardinal Song

 

Artwork availabe from ArtcolorSlizovska on Etsy

Cardinal Song

A familiar song

A ribbon of red

An open window

Late afternoon

And I know

Spring has come

With a message

From across the river

I hear in my heart

I love you–

Dad’s last words–

And

I love you, I love you, I love you–

Mom’s last.

Grief should grip your soul,

Command your attention,

For no more than a year,

Says the American Psychological Association

In the fifth edition of its

Self-affirming holy book.

After a year of grief

Comes a diagnosis

With a prescription

For mind-altering drugs

And a bill for the pill

That will turn you away

From the memory of your forebears.

These are the headlines:

Suddenly there is an answer 

To the question,

How long is too long

To grieve your mother?

To miss your father?  

Television appeals to your soul:
Do you want relief from memory?

Call your doctor.

Request the pill.

Say grief interferes

With your ability to function.

Help will soon be on the way.

You can silence Hermes

If you can handle the copay.

But here’s my question:

What if those who gone before

Remember me?

What if Hermes takes the shape

Of the cardinal,

What if messages of love

Come in the song of a bird

That flies into my spring

From across the dark waters

Of living memory

And of living in memory

Years after death

Broke my heart?

What if, for sure. 

Maybe there’s a pill

To undo the work of the pill

Maybe there’s a magic potion

To take you home.

Maybe just click your heels and dream

In your soul 

Learn to fly

Like this red bird

Mighty for his song.