GROW LIKE THE CREEK: POEMS FOR LOUIS MARTIN

Martin Louis Casuga-Lalonde, Grandchild #9

GROW LIKE THE CREEK:

THREE POEMS FOR LOUIS

1. Wiping Him Dry

Grow like the creek, as did this wisp of a boy

rising from the water, hallooing:
Look, abuelo,I can dive, I can swim!
He wiggled his salva vida floating to the edge,
his face toward the bright blue sky: I am good!

As all grandfathers would, he said: You are!

Oh, you are, my boy. And while I wipe you dry
after this dousing frolic, I run my hands over
your body, cleaning it of any tinge of dry clay,
loathe to think that if I were shaping you
from the mud East of Eden, I’d want you pure,
unalloyed, a cherubic imp of a teaser, a laughter
tickled out of a dream, a pure delight, and clean.

2. Yet Another Robot

He would build them with empty soda cans,

recycled wire, parts unknown until they move.
Look, abuelo, a robot! Whence comes this love
for all things foreign to this dotard askance
about why little lads like him would prattle
about apps and some such instead of apples?

3. Like the River

Under his breath, he also lisped a wistful
plea to the walls around him or whoever
could hear an old man’s prayer:

Please, let him build them strong, and not
destroy; and for my nieto jovencito, to never
forget that there are grander castles in the air.
Please, let him grow like the creek,
when freed of silt will turn to clearest blue.
O let him flow like the river and find his sea.
 

---ALBERT B. CASUGA

June 3, 2014 Revised