April 16th Poem - A Child's Poem

A CHILD’S POEM

In second grade, I wrote a poem about God.

I compared Him to an old sea captain

who looked not surprisingly like Santa Claus.

I put the words in bunches of four lines.

The next day my teacher read the poem,

told me she knew very well I had not written it.

I was in my twenties before I wrote another,

locked in a marriage to a man who loved sailing.

We lived in a house by the bay but even the grey

water and orange sun could not calm our union.

I would sit in a gold chair and write poems

till there was nothing in me but the desire

for sleep.  A cat that I loved very much

befriended a chubby, speckled rabbit.

The two would walk along the water’s edge

unaware that they were natural enemies.

Once in a restaurant I heard a man describe deer hunting.

“You choose the one you want most and then kill it.”

I repeated the line as if it contained some secret.

I repeated the line so I would not forget it.

from Singing Magic by Barbara Alfaro
© Barbara Alfaro