Angel

One flew over the map room
Far above the common ground
Where we took the family photos
Back when we did

It's been years
You didn't know, never knew
At three months

When I took your great grandson on the Christmas train

Cold but nigh, my baby slept while I cried
All wrapped up in you

You were
My Scrabble partner
In lazy lake summers
So long before drama
(I was too young to know)
Crocheting an afghan
Wrapping us up;
Pepsi and Post Toasties,
Avon and aloe

Then you were
Trapped and trite
Like the half-dressed ladies in the garden chandeliers
Growing dimmer and duller
Wrapped up in our tears

When we found birdseed
In the closet
On the shelf, behind the yarn

I took back the last Christmas gift I gave you

And I said my first goodbye

It's been years
Since I saw the angel in the big window
Calling us down to common ground
Where we all wanted to be.

--korywilcox // www.korywilcox.com