BLACKBERRY SONG FOR NATHAN

BLACKBERRY SONG FOR NATHAN LOWE

I have a friend

He’s only nine years old

We talk about the weather

And the reasons behind our fears                             

In the mornings we pick berries

And wipe away our tears

We tell each other the stories of who we were                           

Blackberries bleeding on our tongues

In those rolling hills where we’ve begun

He smiles at me

With his purpled teeth

Paints the face of the day with light

Rides his bike against the winds                                   

And the river forgets to sleep

The night never begins

We tell each other the stories of who we are

Blackberries measuring the depths of summer

In those rolling open hills we still remember

I want to tell him

No matter what our age

We’re all children deep inside

Still waiting for someone to play with

And the wind whispers inside our ears

Urging us to recount the myths

We tell each other the stories of what will be

Blackberries giving us sweet advice 

In these sheltering hollow hills of our lives

I’m not his mother

He’s the child I never had

I’ve got no one to call father

We pass the time eating blackberry pie           

And sometimes he calls me “Dad”           

Hawks scribe names across the sky           

He imagines the future as a blackberry patch

On the dirt roads of summer leading us back

         To those rolling open hills where he was born

7/17/94