Catch

Catch, he said, and tossed his world

To outstretched hand and shiny eye

To child’s child, and heart entire

Catch, he prayed, and let it fly

We birth our own too soon, he thought,

While life’s demands are barely known

While ego’s sway is felt too strong

We birth our own before we’re grown

Oh, best we love and hard we try

To hold on tight to those we bear

To fierce protect, to share each drop

Oh, best we effort and prepare

His world, aloft in bluest sky

Flew spiraling in practiced pass

Flew straight from heart toward waiting heart

His world, arching above the grass

It’s not our fault, it’s nature’s trick

That time is teacher of the dance

That time will later bring us truth

It’s not our fault we take that chance

But now, at last, we are in synch

With every nuance, every flair

With life’s great gifts and dangers rife

But now, we put our best to air 

Catch, he said, and tossed his world

A perfect throw, prepared for years

A perfect time, ripe now and sweet

Catch, he said, and held back tears

The eyes so bright lit up anew

The hands stretched out from precious youth

The hands that now would hold his all

The eyes that now would see his truth

When sudden from the sky a leaf

Fell into view, and caught his eye

Fell into reach, and hand stretched towards

When sudden, child to leaf did fly

His world fell to the earth and popped

As child, laughing ran and chased

As child, happy, shared the leaf

His world forgotten, and replaced.

He sighed, and held the youth aloft

Tomorrow will bring another day

Tomorrow will bring another pass

He sighed, and blessed that sunny day.