Her Shadow
“Birds, birds,” she shrieked with delight.
“The drab one is a girl like you,” I told her,
“but the bright one is a little boy.”
“Yellow,” she cried again with joy, “Yellow.”
Tiny hands plucked at air, catching nothing.
I can still see her standing there, her nose,
all wet and runny. She left damp, snot-stained
marks, a sort of signature, on the cold wet glass.
She’s long gone now, way back home, but still
the window stays unwashed and her shadow
often comes between me and the morning sun.
waiting breathlessly!
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DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YU WROTE THIS FOR CLARE? I’M SO GLAD I WAS SUCH A EXTRAORDINARY CHILD WHO NEVER EVER HAD A SNOTTY NOSE –JUST A PERPETUAL RUNNY ONE!
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I wrote it for Finley, my / our grand-daughter, during one of her visits to the house. She really was an invasion of energy that turned our quiet space upside down! Some wonderful memories and yes, we miss her. She’s back in Ottawa now, under lockdown.
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GLAD TO KNOW THAT CLARE DOESN’T — WELL, YOU KNOW. IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I’VE SEEN A LIVING, BREATHING, ENERGETIC CHILD I’M SOT SURE I WOULD RECOGNIZE THEM NOW! OF COURSR I AM EXAGGERATING A LITTLE BIT. A FRIEND BROUGHT HER GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER TO VISIT LAST NIGHT AND I LET HER PICK OUT A DOLL TO TAKE HOME WITH HER. THE GREAT SURPRISE WAS THAT SHE CHOSE THE SMALLEST DOLL I HAVE INSTEAD OF THE LARGEST ONE.
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Love this Angie. Bigger isn’t always better. I am in luvya mode: luvya!!!
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It was so refreshing to see a 4 year old going for the smallest one. I was becoming jaded by all the “bigger is better” grab it all kids. It was even better when she came back in and asked for a hug!
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I know that feeling. I have big teddies and small teddies. I always take the small ones (well, some of them, not the naughty ones, mind) with me when I go travelling. I had one in my inside coat pocket in Philadelphia (at a conference) and someone asked me if I was ‘packing’. It was the bulgy bear, you see!!!
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Packing heat? Did you show them or just let them wonder? Either way it could have been dangerous in many situations to have a bulge under your jacket!
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It’s a long story. I’ll tell it some time!
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