I have just come down from my son.
He lies in a darkened room with his head tipped down.
I drop through eleven white floors,
step onto the concrete and cross the street.
The sun flares off countless windows,
assaults my shoulders.
I see flames tearing through the neural net
of my son’s body,
outpacing prayer and hydromorphone.
I turn around, count the floors,
try to find the pane of that blue-lit room,
as to hold it in my cupped hands.
Suddenly my son is standing here,
looking out over the Bow River,
“What a glorious afternoon!”
and I am lying eleven floors up and rising.
If God bent down to this father.
Beautifully conveys a parent’s fierce love and anguish.
Thank you, Laurie.
Warmest thoughts to your son and yourself –
praying that all will be well
Thank you for your prayers, leelah.
Understated heartbreak.
Thank you, Angela.
“Help us, save us, have mercy on us and protect us O God by your Grace.” This is a prayer said innumerable times through the Orthodox Divine Liturgy and now that prayer circle is expanded to bring you and your family within. Love, Myrna
Myrna, thank you for this, grateful for your prayer circle. Bless you.
Anguish is a particularly parental word perhaps…
Or parental anguish is of a particular form. Thank you Heather.
Stephen, you are a masterful wordsmith. I hope you are assembling these so they can be preserved for perpetuity, a little like my dad’s poems. He wrote in simple terms but they thoughts were profound and reflect not just a life but an era and a place. These are to be treasured.
On another note, I know nothing about the age of your son or the circumstance. But nothing hurts a parent more than a suffering child. May you somewhere find that peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7).
Thank you for this, Gus. I have your dad’s book, and I treasure it. Thank you for your encouragement, your caring words, and your prayers.
Oh Stephen, it is sometimes utterly astonishing what the human heart
is asked to hold.
Surrounding you and your dear family in much love and kindness,
and a peaceful, generous
healing
as always. -^-
Thank you so much, Tamara.
Thanks, Steve, for this moving poem. To be remembered – as well as a stimulating conversation yesterday with him. He has not forgotten long-held commitments to justice!
Thank you, and really glad you were able to visit Osian. Thank you Sam and Erika.
Heartbreakingly beautiful
Thank you, Ananda!
Stephen, my heart is right there with your son, and his loving family. Your words will find many listeners who understand a son’s will to live and a parent’s willingness to do anything to strengthen a child. Warm wishes for better times ahead.