A Glimpse Of Heaven Poem by Michael O'Sullivan

You felt the stars were angels when you walked
The four miles into Midleton for the matinee.
Your mother had to explain how they were human,
That Deanna Durbin was a breathing being,
Treading her own tightrope in the skies.
The factory you weaved in has long closed
And all who danced with you as children
Have found new roles in some mysterious cast.
Once while your bicycle broke down
A stranger braked in silence to your rescue.
Before the village you were already bound
For it was he who vowed to marry you
When you were eight and he was twenty five.
Your mother asked you to fetch paint,
Gazed through the linen as you gigled home.
I asked you why you never went with anyone
The years between when he seemed gone forever
When love seemed ash spread on a barren ground.
'Just a song at twilight' speeds the answer
As if Deanna Durbin had returned to prompt you:
'I always knew your Daddy would come round.'