There is a madness to it
That your life here ended
Just as spring and new life began.
But there is an even greater joy to be found
In knowing your pain ended
And an even more vivid, free life began for you...
I think it pleased you
To smell those first warm, spring breezes of that year
And to use them as the pillow for your head
As you lay down the last time
Blown straight into heaven's arms
With your beloved robins singing in welcome
To spring here
And to new life for you in the clouds
Green was your favorite color
The green of all things I believe
The olive green of a winter sky at dawn
Bearing the blush of a new day
The spring green of the first shoots of grass
Promising more, and company, to come
The mint green of tiny shoots on the fingertips of trees
Heralding flowers for little princess crowns
And fairy-tale fantasies.
The deep green of the sea
Hinting at a love deeper than we can know
And the fuzzy green of the mist
As the sun glows in soft beams through a forest canopy.
A rooftop and balcony to the animals and their chattering dance
Their excitement on the advent of spring.
The piercing green of your daughter's eyes
As they trusted your arms instinctively
At the beginning of life...
Green as the stars in her eyes
Who would never know you to do wrong
Green is a color
But to you it was life
It *is* life as you patiently wait by gates of emerald and pearl
With the steadiness of many-winged companions
And His approving watchfulness a shield over you
Sometimes I feel the count of my years is too long
And the struggle not worth the fight
How easy it would be to succumb to the desire
To be with you again
Rather than continue to brave this tempestuous mountain path
Called life
Even on the highest mountain peak
Where the most joyous moments wait
There is a damp chill in the air at the deepest place
Where you can no longer join in the laughter
Or share in the tears
Where you cannot hold my child's hand and teach him to paint
Teach him what it means to love
Show him the hidden paths through life's difficult forests
Give him the name of every bird and flower and tree
No one compared with your artists heart
Or the mind of yours that grew to know your Father
Better in sickness and utter dependence
Than ANYONE I have known
As you grieved for the childhood and adulthood of mine that you'd miss
You thanked Him for the moments we'd had
The few dreams that you'd been able to share
The stories we'd been able to read
And games we'd been able to play.
I think you knew even then
That I would grow a rebellious heart
Jaded and angry, scarred from too many beatings.
But the pain you could not spare me
You lessened
If only by asking God the permission
To guide me to eventual consolation
You knew more in your last few years
Than most learn in life-times
One day soon I hope to hear what all of it meant
Hear again the stories from your knee
And watch your eyes alight with the unconstrained excitement
When you have unraveled some divine mystery
I am, even now, your faithful student
And greatest admirer.
As I learn more day-by-day who you were
And how much I am like you
...and sometimes, in several ways that matter...
Not like you nearly enough.
You would never have wanted to see
That your legacy might end here
Or know the little ways that I die daily remembering you
And the child that you left behind
Often reduced to a child once more.
Written: 03-30-2010
(Tues. afternoon)
This is dedicated to my father, Ron 'Ronnie' Rosenberry
That your life here ended
Just as spring and new life began.
But there is an even greater joy to be found
In knowing your pain ended
And an even more vivid, free life began for you...
I think it pleased you
To smell those first warm, spring breezes of that year
And to use them as the pillow for your head
As you lay down the last time
Blown straight into heaven's arms
With your beloved robins singing in welcome
To spring here
And to new life for you in the clouds
Green was your favorite color
The green of all things I believe
The olive green of a winter sky at dawn
Bearing the blush of a new day
The spring green of the first shoots of grass
Promising more, and company, to come
The mint green of tiny shoots on the fingertips of trees
Heralding flowers for little princess crowns
And fairy-tale fantasies.
The deep green of the sea
Hinting at a love deeper than we can know
And the fuzzy green of the mist
As the sun glows in soft beams through a forest canopy.
A rooftop and balcony to the animals and their chattering dance
Their excitement on the advent of spring.
The piercing green of your daughter's eyes
As they trusted your arms instinctively
At the beginning of life...
Green as the stars in her eyes
Who would never know you to do wrong
Green is a color
But to you it was life
It *is* life as you patiently wait by gates of emerald and pearl
With the steadiness of many-winged companions
And His approving watchfulness a shield over you
Sometimes I feel the count of my years is too long
And the struggle not worth the fight
How easy it would be to succumb to the desire
To be with you again
Rather than continue to brave this tempestuous mountain path
Called life
Even on the highest mountain peak
Where the most joyous moments wait
There is a damp chill in the air at the deepest place
Where you can no longer join in the laughter
Or share in the tears
Where you cannot hold my child's hand and teach him to paint
Teach him what it means to love
Show him the hidden paths through life's difficult forests
Give him the name of every bird and flower and tree
No one compared with your artists heart
Or the mind of yours that grew to know your Father
Better in sickness and utter dependence
Than ANYONE I have known
As you grieved for the childhood and adulthood of mine that you'd miss
You thanked Him for the moments we'd had
The few dreams that you'd been able to share
The stories we'd been able to read
And games we'd been able to play.
I think you knew even then
That I would grow a rebellious heart
Jaded and angry, scarred from too many beatings.
But the pain you could not spare me
You lessened
If only by asking God the permission
To guide me to eventual consolation
You knew more in your last few years
Than most learn in life-times
One day soon I hope to hear what all of it meant
Hear again the stories from your knee
And watch your eyes alight with the unconstrained excitement
When you have unraveled some divine mystery
I am, even now, your faithful student
And greatest admirer.
As I learn more day-by-day who you were
And how much I am like you
...and sometimes, in several ways that matter...
Not like you nearly enough.
You would never have wanted to see
That your legacy might end here
Or know the little ways that I die daily remembering you
And the child that you left behind
Often reduced to a child once more.
Written: 03-30-2010
(Tues. afternoon)
This is dedicated to my father, Ron 'Ronnie' Rosenberry
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