Og! (For Lyn) Poem by Dónall Dempsey

'...og! '

You command
the language

&
it
obeys you.

Providing you
with a dog.

A sleepy dog
who when he hears you

wakes up
trundles over to you

slumps
at your feet

& then
goes back to sleep.

You
the Queen of Words.

'Ahhhh...og! '

you stroke
the word

& it obeys
your every whim.

'Dog! '
I say.

He opens an eye
&...looks away

as if to say:
'Who's him...then? '

Ahhhh....my little cave girl
I love

your little explorings
of the tongue

and how
the world comes
when it is bidden.

'Dada! '
you pronounce

& I
to
come at once

tied to
the invisible string

of your
voice.

*******


'The stars...'
you explain
to me

'...grow heavy
& fall as snow.'

'How do you know? '
I ask.

She looks at me
as if I am stupid

and doesn't even deign
to explain any further.

'I just..know! '

My five year old
dances amongst fallen stars

a universe
holds its breat

snow still
in the sky

me so very small
reflected in her eye.

*******

HOW I WONDER WHAT YOU ARE

Captured in puddles
my daughter pokes it with sticks
...moon cries for its sky!