Far Flying Bird

Road trip with my daughter who I was taking to university.

Gales come in from America
Causing such a storm
When all really I wanted to do
Was keep you safe and warm

She was asleep
She had gone deaf
She did not understand
I tried to reach her
But she was well beyond
My command

Birds fly in from Scandanavia
Avoiding the ice and snow
And all around bombs are exploding
I really dont want you to go

Then she was talking on the phone
Speaking in Spanish
Acting in her normal way of peculiarity
'Perdoneme?' she said
As I tried to talk
But she was beyond me

I think I need a paracetamol
As your giving me a buzzy head
And now in all the quietness
There seem many things unsaid

She was taking a photo
Singing with the radio
Lost in her own virtual space
She was so near
She was so far
She was all over the place

The house seems a little quiet
After so many awkward silences
It is so empty here without
All the mess you make

I feel like I have lost something so precious
Cast it far away, like putting a jewel
At the bottom of the sea
Daughter who I took to university

Reviews

[Sami Khalil]

She is ready to fly away like that high-flying bird, to spread her wings, to reach new horizons. The father is making sure she can do it on her own and then he feels the silence of the house...This was touching and empowering at the same time...A wonderful write...:)................

[Sophy Freebirds]

This poem touched my heart.... i could really put myself in place of your daughter in this poem because i have always been daddy's girl.. :) Now by reading this i can realise what my parents feel by letting me go.. The other aspect of the poem of a girl being ready to fly to her dreams holds a whole total different appeal.the last two lines of the fourth stanza depict the lack of communication due to generation gap.. A nice piece about a bitter-sweet memory.

~Sophy

[VALORMORE DE PLUME]

I like the parental prospective, practical and emotional ideas make for strange bedfellows. The parent also lets go of more than just being near the maturing child, this is the feeling of love being torn away, all one's hopes and dreams for the child are now subject to random interference by unknown situations. Being glad for them is hard. We do it anyway.

[Marie]

Children we cherist grow up to have their own language, their own needs, their own world. But if you've done a good job as a parent (and I'll bet you have) they come back.

[Leigh]

She will be flying back