1981-11-29 – Chris didn’t know


         Our lives are made fragile by the things that we love
           and the years our love brings to bear.
         Chris lay sleeping as I prepared to leave
           and I stood and stared thru the bars of his crib.
         He loves me to tickle him and his eyes shine as he squeals
           and he can say 'Da-dee' and does, again and again.


         Some place from far back inside of me
           as I looked watching him sleep
         I thought of how fragile are all of our lives.
           The patterns of security, comfort and association we erect
         against these wars and illnesses, crimes and disasters...
           none of them are less real, because we love.


         Its just that my perception
           of how life and its vagaries comes together
         with our love and its attachments
           has sharpened with age.
         As the blunders of youth's mania
           and other distortions fall away
         and I see the 'human condition' more,
           and I cringe at how naked we stand.


         But Chris didn't know ... even that I was leaving
           his blankets and thumb and baby fat warmth
              defined the world he knows.


                                    gallagher
                                    29 Nov 1981
                                    LAX, Vancouver bound


— Copyright 1965-2008 by Dennis Gallagher —

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