Cowboys on horses
round up cattle
with their blue heelers
like he and his brothers used to do.
ATVs roar by in a cavalcade
and I swear I see him
in the driver’s seat leading
the pack up the dirt road.
Two does and their fawns
frolic on the lawn and I can
picture him sitting cross-legged
on the couch watching.
The flicker knocks and knocks
but no one opens the door
and I hear him say how lucky
we are to live out here
before he walks away
and disappears into the white
clouds that swirl in a sky
blue as his eyes.
Sharon Waller Knutson has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She has published 12 poetry books, including the most recent, The Leading Ladies of My Life (Cyberwit 2023) and its sequel, My Grandfather is a Cowboy (Cyberwit 2024.) She has published 1,000 poems in more than 60 publications. She is the editor of Storyteller Poetry Review and lives in Arizona.
Yes. A lovely tribute. The loss is palpable. You touch my heart with this in ways I cannot say.
ReplyDeleteHeartbreaking poem, so skillfully presented with absence and presence. This touches me deeply.
ReplyDeletebeautiful heart wrenching poem , that having lost my son also, I can really relate to thank you!
ReplyDeleteExcellent work, I am blessed to know Sharon and this heartbreak, she's captured her son so well.
ReplyDeleteA loving testament to greif and remembrance...he remains in everything he loved
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