Ma & Pa & Us Poem by Dónall Dempsey

Her voice
ran out

to meet us
before she did

her singing
gathering us up

held invisibly
in each note

as if already
we were a bunch

of flowers
in her hand

before she pulled us close
to her cuddly warmness

all breasts
& softness

my mother’s love
enclosing us

as if she were
prepared to die for us.

She, the mother hen
and we her precious chicks.

My Dad’s bicycle bell
& laughter

conjuring him up
before he turned the corner

and presented himself
to us

as if he were
the most wonderful present

we could ever desire

His love all full of fun
and songs and laughter.

Us kids
stood enraptured

captivated by
these beings

and their out of this world

...love.