By Lantern's Light

BY LANTERN’S LIGHT The summer air had scents of rain The oak held swaying limb And brilliance of the marigold Was quickly growing dim The lawn turned black as evening came The woods were blacker still The little log house nestled in Against the wooded hill And then a furious bolt of lightening Speared the nearby trees The thunder clapped and shook the earth And brought me to my knees How could this house of stuccoed log Aged hundred years or more And painted white with roof of tin Withstand the rage of Thor But I was only eight years old And frightened to the bone This place of stream with rainbow trout No longer seemed my home The great oak tree took monstrous shape The woods were not my friend And I could but imagine this To be the planet’s end But he sat calmly on the porch With ink pen in his hand And never stopped from scrolling words That flowed at his command The porch light dimmed and then went black But in the flashing roar He slowly made his way towards The old wood cellar door Then moments later he emerged With oil lamp alit And came back to the sheltered porch Where he would always sit He kept on writing poetry Despite the thunderous night And never seemed to notice That I trembled there in fright The crickets, owl and tree frogs Were silenced from within As rains fell loud and heavy On the sheltering roof of tin I closely watched my father’s hands In glow of lantern light And somehow felt his calming warmth Through terrors of the night I huddled near him blanketing coolness From the pouring rage He slowly turned and glanced my way And handed me the page And as I read the lines he wrote Of lovely poetry My tears reflected lantern’s glow For this was meant for me It said no storm or hurricane Nor mighty hand of Thor Could ever take me from his side He’d love me evermore He calmed the raging storm that night Erasing all my fears His gentle face in lantern’s light Still glows throughout the years And though he’s gone, his heart so warm Protects me still from every storm2, Written March 21st, 2002 © on Mar 21 2002 08:59 AM PST   0 • 8