A SONNET TO MY FATHER
O fruitful, misting valley, lovely sight;
A mount’nous climb must first be yours as fee!
For fruited plains give grandeur, feasts of light;
The blessing eyes must first have climbed, to see.
In autumn rainbow sprays of color burst
Upon a summer palate only green,
Connected to an earthen brown where first
They broke the soil; (in winter never seen.)
O dad, my father, take the chalice, proud,
The chalice filled from fountain of life’s end.
And drink the sorrow and the guilt, endowed
In knowing Heaven’s drinking; holy blend.
The winter ends in autumn, eyes in climb,
And your life ends in His; vict’ry sublime!
Feb. 12, 1991
My father passed away on March 22, 1991,
and I got to tell him all the things I had to say.
===============
In Remembrance of my Mom
Though desert ravaged, pocked with wrinkled scars
Gigantic stones provide oasis bowers:
These hoary pillars harbor secret powers
A mystery connected to the stars
Of wonders of the world there’s none their peer
Imposing elders unperturbed by fear
(Except the nightmare rumor-spider tale
That in the end, yes, even they may fail.)
Yet inner places of these stones proclaim
An ancient story now and then the same,
Through narrow passage and by sandstorm strife
Beyond this veil there’s resurrection life!
Oh treasure that these stones have showered me!
As dear and real as my maternal dowry:
A grant, a treasure, not just meals and clothes,
The overpowering of all my earthly foes.
No, not just nursing me through flu and cold,
In every wrong rewarding me with scold,
But like the constellations in the skies
Bequeathing me the wealth of family ties.
I praise you mom, for gifts you've given me
For Marcia, Barbara, Carol, John and Mary,
For Tom and Dave and family still growing,
Of in-laws, spouses, cousins, overflowing!
Though Pharaohs die still pyramids proclaim
The wonders of the heavenly Gardener's name;
Who gives to every living thing its powers:
Camilla tends the monastery flowers.
Larry Pahl
Lines 1-14 written for mom's 75th birthday, Sept. 19, 1999
Lines 15-24 composed Nov. 27, 2004 for her 80th birthday
Lines 25-28 composed Aug. 15, 2009 for her passage to Heaven, Aug. 12, 2009
============
TO DAD FREY
There’s people here
And over there
Family, family
Everywhere
In this sea of faces
In all these places
I see that without which
This all erases.
Amidst faces sad
And faces glad
Nieces and aunts
Is the face of Dad.
Thanking the Lord
For this thriving horde
Tears in his prayer
Touching a family cord.
Through decades eight
He’s paid the freight
While bending metal
He’s played it straight.
Its no surprise
That we’re his prize
We plainly see it
In his eyes.
So let those tears flow
John, let them go!
What they mean to you
They mean to us also.
From Larry
March 9, 2013, 80th birthday celebration, Chicago