Remembering: A poem 

I see the river drifting wistfully in memory 

Though you were once a standing tree 

caught between the fences of innocence 

and the world; and familial allegiance 

The wind once whistled with your song 

and the story of how you got along 

You have nine lives in my heart 

And even more, wherever I start 

Innocence has dreams of fulfillment 

Wisdom builds for hope a compartment 

I can figure out how to walk as I age 

Your voice in my ears fills me with the courage 

I cast pebbles alone in time’s flowing stream 

And the ripples of what you said to me always gleam