- Christmas Eve, 2013 -
These carols call them now to mind –
the songs that Molly used to sing.
Let’s look at some she left behind.
She filled them up with every kind
of thing!
In this one there’s a Calling Bird,
its beaks and talons tied with string –
a symbol, say, of Life deferred,
of dreariness wherein the Word
cannot take wing.
In some there is a somber mirth
suggestive of belated Spring;
a bastard Child of doubtful birth,
or promises of challenged worth –
a newborn in a sling.
And this one is a Yuletide tune
that questions who is really King;
three wise men, ‘neath a shackled moon,
assembled on a stucco dune
where Commerce rules: Ka-CHING! Ka-CHING!
Her melodies recall each thought
to which, indelibly, they cling.
When we are joyful or distraught,
the cadence falls, then comes unsought
that muted cheer which Molly’s songs still bring.