tealess. [another loss]

This has been a rough few weeks for me. Remembering the subject of my post last week, and now I just got a call from my mother telling me that I no longer have any grandparents left--my papaw passed away last night. Sad as I am for this loss, I know in his case that he was miserable in the nursing home he was in, and cursed his immobility. He longed to drive car again, something each of us take for granted everyday, he longed to check his birdhouses, and enjoy the spring as another blue jay would give him the honor of choosing the birdhouse he built, painted, and put up in his yard. Now he is able to do all that and more--he is in the presence of his Heavenly Father, and can walk with him through gilded streets of heaven without pain. Keep my family in your prayers, Papaw was a character, and will be sorely missed.
I wrote this poem in light of recent events.

Swearing Fealty

Winter begins to wane,
As spring waxes easily into my senses.
Daffodils raise sunny faces to the heavens,
The first to awake from wintry slumber.
Everything around me breathes life,
Yet everything in my head screams death.
A bright, young friend, but two weeks ago,
And last night, my only remaining grandfather.
Remaining no longer.
Death sits heavily in my mind,
I pray he doesn’t look in my direction too soon.
Life blooms in my mountain valley,
But death creates a valley of despair in my mind.
Battling for the fealty of my thoughts
I struggle to give both their due allegiance.
A man cannot serve two masters.
Weep for death, give joy for life,
And remember who it is that bestows both.

Caitlin B. Foreman