Poems Submitted by Our Readers

I laugh.  Look! It's still there!
The burly rope in the big old tree.
My heart skips a beat when I see it
still there from when I was just three.

The siding sags on the old empty house.
The shutters creak out notes off key.
The old house is weathered and falling
but the rope... it's still there in the tree!

I reach out and I gently caress it.
My face lights up with a smile.
I remember this coarse twisted texture
and my mind takes me back for a while.

I recall the day daddy hung it...
at least, I think that I do.
He climbed so far out on the limb
and secured it there with a bow.

A little board-seat was fixed in place.
He made sure that it tested true.
He supposed that if it held all his weight,
it would surely hold little me too.

Ah, the grand flightful feeling
of swooping and soaring with ease
"Higher, daddy, push me higher," I called
as I flew on his magic trapeze.

I wonder if it will still hold me
after these many, many years,
so, carefully I lower myself onto the seat
and my eyes well up with tears.

Daddy's not here to push me now
but I suppose that is okay.
Sitting here on his swing I remember
and thank him in whispers today.

Slowly I draw back and I let go.
The feeling is just like before!
Higher, I pump and go higher
as my body and spirit both soar.

I suppose that I really look silly,
but you know, I really don't care.
After so many years with my feet on the ground,
It’s past time I returned to the air.


Len Fouty