In Memory Of Stephen M. Galvin 1967-1973 Poem by Bill Galvin

Where my heart remembers Stephen
A lone falcon flies.
She selects an early morning perch
And queries this newness
On this her daily tour of her turf;
And when I subtly suggest
That I am but a sharing visitor,
No more than a caring inquisitor,
She whispers a welcome
…and moves on.

Here the timeless tidal movement
Is gently lapping upon this coastal place;
And here a tiny streamlet trickles
Freshly from the forest,
Through a mossy cedar'd glade,
And, gliding over this smoothened stony face,
Slips then down into the briny shore
To blend and be One again,
…and move on.

Here the breeze is brushed by evergreens
As it blows in burnished by the bay;
Catching the sweet scent of balsam trees,
It sweeps upward over the hill to play,
…then moves on.

(Here there is this quietude,
Which stills the beat of daily labor;
Here is found that interlude
Of place and time that all hearts favor.)

These Acadian hills refresh my soul.
They clarify me; help to keep me whole;
And provide the place for such review
As to bring back the memory of a son long gone,
…and gone too soon.

Here as for the searching sea bird,
This granite ledge is to me a perch…
A site for looking out over sea and time;
For sitting in solace as my soul unbinds.

And the sun and I together,
We two cast reflections over the waters.

As the hours pass and as the years progress,
Some times with, and some without success,
There begets the renewal sought through timelessness.

And my son and I together,
We too cast reflections over the waters,
…and move on.



US Copyright June 26,2000
William E. Galvin