The Blue Shawl

Dear Father,
I have a gift for You
It is my blue shawl
But I apologize
Because it’s a bit stained
With old tears
From sad days
Like the time I was horribly alone inside my heart and out
And then I thought I was rescued by a person
He left me
Broken-hearted,
And there are tears from other times like
From watching “Terms of Endearment”
When Emma says goodbye to her boys.
Still, they are tear stains and I suppose that’s not sanitary.
I hope you don’t mind.

Dear Father,
I have a gift for You
It is my blue shawl
That I have cherished for years.
I used it to swaddle my babies
Each of them
After they were born.
And I wrapped it around those babes who grew to be children
When they forgot their coats
On cold days
And I remained shivering
But I didn’t mind.
Because my children are gifts
To be wrapped and kept warm.

Dear Father,
I have a gift for You.
It is my blue shawl
Which I’ve loved for years.
It was a gift to me from someone dear
And reminds me of her cheeriness
And laughter
And it carries the scent of cotton candy
Probably from the Shad Derby Fair
A beautiful day
My children running around
And my good friend buying an apple pie
That we ate together.
With one fork.

Dear Father,
This gift I have for You
Is filled with Love.
It’s such a tiny offering
Of my own love for You.
I wish it were larger.
The blessings You’ve heaped upon me
Were large indeed and plentiful.
Like the plentifulness of rain
On my head
As I ran to my car
From the office
But it was so far away
And all I had to cover myself
Was the blue shawl
That smelled of cotton candy
And was stained with tears
And baby goo.
It’s now wrapped nicely,
And it’s filled with Love.

(2009)