Sunday, September 18, 2005

In My Chair

.
In My Chair
.
As I sit in my chair,
I can recall the past-
Past only a few months,
When my eyes were cast
Upon your mother asleep,
Burdened yet with life
Which heaved and rose
Within her-my wife.
Now, that burden turned
Into the blossomed girl
Who innocently lies upon
My lap midst a hazy world.
.
You don't know me yet,
Little Gretchen, do you?
You hear me but only as a
Sound from images you view.
You must sense and feel
A security in these arms
Of mine and your mother's
Knowing no fears, no harms.
Someday in this chair,
I'll recall the past again-
Past for several years,
When my eyes will begin
.
To look at a young woman
Upset over some boy;
Or giggling at the mention
Of him with happy joy.
And still later in this chair,
When you come to visit,
I'll see a mother-to-be
In discomfort trying to sit
No longer on her father's lap,
But next to her loving mate,
Who someday in his own chair,
Will know a similar fate.
.
And still, a few months later,
I'll hold in my grasp
A grandchild of innocence.
Its hand round my finger clasp.
Yes, I'm dreaming ahead,
For now it's hard to believe
That someday your tiny head
A wedding veil will receive.
I can recall the near past and
Look to tomorrow somewhere
As you grow up and I old,
As I sit here in my chair.
.
_Michael W. Ashley
_July 6, 1974
.
(This poem was written when my daughter was 2 years old. She is going to use it in her Wedding Program. Thirty-one years later, it has been prophetic. The little baby girl who once lay in my lap is a woman now and is getting married. She has grown up and I have grown older. As I sit in my chair.)
.
No.345

8 comments:

OldHorsetailSnake said...

Sitting in a chair is the best way to age, though. Works for cheese, too.

Congratulations to all in the family, especially Gretchen.

OldHorsetailSnake said...

I'm confused. You list yourself as Mike Ashley but your posts say they're by Hale McKay. And did you know I cannot see your sidebar anymore? Sheesh, some people....

Anonymous said...

well, let's see:
Hale McKay is a pseudonym
Mike Askley is my real name

As for side bar - every now and then it drops all the way to the bottom of scroll - why I don't Know - I only work here.

OldHorsetailSnake said...

Mike Ashkley (?): Thanks. Found it. Ask on your blog for somebody to tell you what to do. Sometimes you raise a geek who knows just what to do. Or ask me to tell you the name of a geek, and will find one for you.

Hale McKay said...

LOL - Ashley. (Sheesh! Darn keyboard Poltergeists!)
Good idea, Hoss, re: raising a geek.

kenju said...

Hale/Mike: what is that cartoonish image that hops ahead of my vision when I am scrolling down through your posts?

And Hoss must have goosed your poltergeists, because I can see your sidebar just fine now.

Hale McKay said...

Kenju, that floating image is an icon from "Flaming Text" where I get a lot of my fonts and banners. If you click on the "X" it'll go away if it bothers you. If you click in the text box of it, it will send you to that site.
-Hmm, my sidebar is still on the bottom of my screen for now.

Karyn Lyndon said...

I liked your poem and it obviously is very special to your daughter. Can't wait to see pics of the wedding.