HANSEL ON A LEAD

My uncle with Hansel

Couldn't find a picture with Hansel at their feet, but he was there!

Papa, 

everyone you love will be there.

I tell you this, not because I want

to comfort you, but because I know

it is true. I felt them;

they were waiting, excitedly, 

embodying patience

and the immediacy of joy. 

I am theirs as much as I am yours - 

and surely, because you have lived 

twice as long as I, 

the abundance of those awaiting you 

will far exceed mine. 

Papa,

everyone who loves you will be there.

You don’t believe me?

Ok, let’s try it this way - remember

when Hansel sat between you and Ma

on your wedding day? 

A dog is a blessing, a dog can be a guide

even in the afterlife.

Imagine, then, Hansel awaiting you

at the gates. Imagine Nina Simone

singing I wish I knew how it would

feel to be free - to you, Pops,

except she would stop halfway through,

because you wouldn't have to imagine it

any more.

Shaista, 2025

My grandmother holding Dad's face - she adored and respected him.

Lovebugs

My mother is always beautiful - and most radiant on this day of all days

..

Shaista, 2025

It's Open Link night over at DVerse, and sometimes a prompt is necessary for a tired poet... it seems all I can manage to be jogged into doing a thing, and even then, just about. The prompt was on abundance - meaning food - but love is an abundance of food, of sorts. I wrote this poem for Dad during a poetry workshop knowing he'd been feeling a bit low that day, knowing I would see him immediately afterwards and I could tell him to try not to hate the thought of leaving, of saying goodbye, because everyone who loves him will welcome him to the other side. But of course, that's not fully true is it? Because the ones who are on this side love him even more fiercely than anyone anywhere in any dimension. Most especially the radiant wife he managed to snag for himself a few glorious decades ago. They made beautiful memories on that day, which have lasted a lifetime. It's a tricky business, this loving and being loved... He's ok, for now. It's his mind that makes it a dance with the devil. Long hours in the particular darkness only the blind inhabit. His greatest desperation is finding the next audiobook - any good recommendations to keep his mind occupied?! An abundance of audiobooks - stories galore - that would be the dream abundance for Dad...