Loss

gazing from the balcony

again this summer

once blessed

by this Spokane River view

 

goldfinch aren’t as bright this year

hawks just taunt me with their red tails

circling around my grief

 

blue heron, once majestic

now indifferent to my pain

magpies chide sharply

shaming me at my loss

 

even the river

once a source of vitality

deep wisdom

forgets to white water wave

as she rolls by

 

the fifth summer

once blessed

by this Spokane river view

 

now is the year I lost

the year I lost my dad

 to cancer

and all the colors

turned to gray

 

September 2, 2002

Candess M. Campbell