The Triangles of Angels

Perhaps he wasn't the tallest man I knew,
but he cast the longest shadow a girl could climb.
And as the sun set on his last day
above the ground the man in blinding
white played taps on the breath of god
where time stopped, and trees listened.
Then together the angel men in their white gloves
folded the final symbol of my father and one spoke,

"On behalf of the President of the United States and the Chief of Naval Operations, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's service to this Country and a grateful Navy"


my father never felt so small as I hugged that triangle to me and neither did I.

Reviews

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

So sad and so emotional! You have a way of creating emotional depth in your words that is amazing; the idea of shadows being climbed by children and "taps (being played) on the breath of god". So many wonderfully tragic images. The loss is excruciating, but your have penned your father back into life with this one. The last line nearly brought me to tears... So well done!

[icelandicblue]

Thank you so very much Sarah. Your words touched me.