After the illness
Years of night
Only flashes of dawn
My son’s joys re-emerge
Dandelions through cracked concrete
I’m giddy and laughing like a drunk and weeping
Stumbling through town with a slap happy grin
Because nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen
And Lordy troubles don’t last always!
God’s turned back the clock
My son’s twelve on the outside
And maybe four on the inside
It’s back to story time with the preschoolers
And learning conversation
Stare if you want
But my son is back in the land of the living
Tickled and giggling
Swinging in the park
Running through the zoo
Sometimes nightmares
Strike again by day
My son’s terror returns
He is lost in a tunnel
My eyes reach in and pull him up
My arms are his tree to climb out
Snowflakes streak the sky
But in our house
The floor is fertile green ground
The eggshell is breaking
The foal is shaking and standing
And the lamb of merciful sunrise
Has turned the lion back into a house cat
—
The Zingara Project 