Daniel

 

 

One day you sat there

in that well-kept garden

the sun breaking through the clouds

rain drops dripped from the broken gutter

as if competing with the bird song 

for control of the airwaves

In that yellow and red stripped

Deck chair still, studious as if posing

For an artist. Your right leg crossed over left

I remembered my grandfather sat that way

The last time I saw him…

 

You studied me as if I was your pet or a pet project

Angled your head to one side as if to stop the information

From falling out through your right ear

your brow creased with perplexion

deep in thought

 

It was the first time I had had you in a quiet place

You were so used to running at break neck speed

around the house playing with your older brother

And i was always playing catch up as your doting uncle

laughing but still trying to persuade you i was an adult

but nothing like your parents

you could have fun with me

 

i would never spoil you by buying you sticky sweets

or introducing you to bacon sarnies. afterall you were a strict vegan

but i wanted you to see the world through the eyes 

of someone who had lived outside of the walls of

suburbian leafy green comfortableness 

your mother never really approved of my visits

 

So we talked or I did and you listened distractfully then answered

Not quite grasping the question you would fire a question back at me

and i would clarify my position

You were only 3 but your comprehension amazed me

as you fathomed the meaning from the context

and responed in such a matter of fact way that to believe

i was teaching you to suck eggs was not even an option.

 

Your brother was so naturally gifted and I thought, as a child

Childish jealousy would be your way

But you were birthing your own skills and character

and either were oblivious to rivalry 

or were having too much fun to care

you lit the world in my mind up

like a roman candle with your curiosity

 

I enjoyed every minute

of that quiet moment we shared

and took snap shots on my i phone 

of you in deep thought

As I fashioned your keen mind

With new words and concepts you could use

to Impress your stern mother at the dinner table.

and show you too had an understanding of the world

even though your world was a million miles away from my own.