for Uncle Walter*

There are moments of simple wonder when I believe
That constellations can be contained inside our eyes,
That comets can wrap around our brows like ribbon
And fly out our mouths like laughter,

There are moments of verdant courage when I believe
That nobility and knighthood can never die,
That death cannot suppress the human spirit
Nor decay depress spontaneous inspiration

There are moments when I recall you
With galaxies alive inside your mind’s eye
Searching and seeing the rhythms and beauty
Invisible to a shallower sense but visible in
Your relentless quest for the answers like
Gems hidden and longing to be found within
The numbers of our days, the strands of our DNA
Hidden and longing to be found, those forlorn
Pieces you arranged like constellations

There are moments when I recall you
With silver-haired dignity
And your sapphire wit an irrepressible crown
Adorned with laughter, love, and the magna of your anima,
Your relentless quest to see the invisible greatness inside
Young hearts and impatient minds like gems hidden in
A rocky place, you could see the magna in us,
Had faith in the words I held uncertainly like
A new mother petrified of her child called Poetry

There are moments when I recall you
Loaned courage and lift to my infant dream,
Hidden and longing to be found, the Poetry
You saw in me, just as your eyes, wit, nobility
And spirit perceived Poetry in
The molecules that make us human,
The particles that make us beautiful,
The patterns that make us heroes, and
The words that fill us alive with Love

*Walter M. Fitch (May 21, 1929 – March 10, 2011)