somewhere is dawn

the magic bird for my father is weeping
or else has joined him in that longest sleep
he sits there my memory in his keeping
but outside the night is becoming deep
dark and full of the sounds of pain
the saddest music with a cheery tone
the keys declaring that false is the strain
in the fresh dark we are all alone
i think about those folk in far-off places
who do their work for very little pay
i wonder what puts joy into their faces
or what they think of every vanished day
and wonder if i asked that they would see
myself in them as i see them in me

unheard this message

only five years ago my father died
it wasn't unexpected wasn't a huge blow
anita and i both broke down and cried
seeking redemption in the tears' flow
i'm startled that i didn't mark the day
didn't pause and say what is the case
five years ago i got the chance to say
what needed to be said straight to his face
i carry him inside although he could not tell
i'd learned the things that only he could teach
i've drunk so many times of that clear well
i've reached the things he gave me hope to reach
and now too late i give to him the praise
he would not give me in his living days