3 Mar 2014

Visitor

With elbows on the window sill,
dreaming at the moon,
I heard a lady humming
and I recognised the tune
as one my Daddy used to sing
sometimes - as tender-sweet
and soothing as a lullaby -
while he cuddled me to sleep.

I turned, and bright as moonlight,
she was sitting by my bed
quieting her baby...
Then she bent to kiss its head.

"I cannot stay my darling,
but when you hear this song
you'll always know that I'm nearby.
Be happy, and be strong;
my love will wrap around you
no matter where you are,
and I'll be watching over you
from up among the stars."

I never knew my Mammy
but last evening, I'd have sworn
I saw her for the first time,
though... she'd died when I was born.

Linked to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads's Open Link Monday

15 comments:

  1. So very beautiful, I love this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your poem touched my heart--from Daddy-memory to woman sitting on the narrator's bed next to her baby--everything transformed. How thrilling! Thank you for sharing this story.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I got goose bumps from the first mentioning of the song your daddy sung.....~ Thanks for sharing ~ You are loved <3

    ReplyDelete
  4. How tender and beautiful........the lost mother arriving to sing to her grandbaby. Very poignant. I believe in such visitations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But the baby was the daughter, Sherry - the one left behind when the mother died in childbirth. I think I'd have needed to put a slightly different spin on the words, for them to apply to a grandchild - but I can see it would be just as relevant.

      Delete
    2. Ought to go into a book for children, along the vein of Annabelle Lee, it is both tender and haunting.

      Delete
  5. How beautiful and yes, tender.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful Jinksy! I love the sound of it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. gorgeous and touching ~

    ReplyDelete
  8. So moving...I love the flow of it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. A bittersweet passage of history through a remembered song.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The poem is like a beautiful dream....

    ReplyDelete
  11. This has a wonderful feel of a classic poem. Thanks.. K. Manicddaily

    ReplyDelete
  12. oh wow, this is so beautiful! i love the dreamy feel, the warmth conveyed.

    stacy lynn mar
    http://warningthestars.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful and warm love comes from evry word.

    ReplyDelete