A DISTANT ECHO

A DISTANT ECHO

Like those distant echoes of sounds
we learned to feel safe with, these
faint calls are never as far as those
gentle caresses that lulled us to sleep.

Why do lullabies linger and stay long
after all the loving and the kisses?
Are they all that is left of the tender
touch on the tired troubled brow?

I still feel her warm hands on my back
when cold mornings would wake us up
to the first day of school. Do I have to?
Like the first cicada, she said: You do.

Morning sounds like these remain clear
even as they fade like distant echoes.

—Albert B. Casuga
08-02-11 

Prompt: First cicada of the day, easing in and trailing off as if mimicking the Doppler effect. A cuckoo’s faint call—never as far as it sounds.---Dave Bonta, The Morning Porch, 08-02-11