ephemera

                                One of my greatest sources of inspiration came with the arrival of my first
                                                grandchild...a little boy whose name is David Ethan.
                    This poem seemed the only way to express a moment etched forever in my memory
                                                for which I was seeking a  vehicle of expression.
         The thoughts came to me as he lay sleeping on my bed when he was about three months old.
                                It was an especially golden moment in the gloaming of the day, with the
                                        strains of Mozart's 'Ave Verum' playing softly as he slept.

WHERE ARE YOU?

Where are you
Right this moment
While I watch you sleep
And your breath becomes my own
For just this time
I need you back to help me live

Where are you
While I wait for you to waken
With each small sigh
You awaken me
To things I never dreamed of feeling
Before you came to me

Where are you
Though right beside me
I feel that while youre here
You''re somewhere far away
In places I can never go
But, somehow, once have been

Where are you
The one I never thought to want
Never felt the absence of
Until your presence made me sense
How empty life would be without you
And yet, I know

When touched, you grasp my hand
And immediately I sense promise
But its such a lie
Because I know too well
Like all the others you will leave
For those who can give better and more

This tiny interlude in the first best light
Of a sunset made golden by this intimacy
Will stay with me forever in my heart
As time and memory last for me
And when you are gone and I am gone
This crystal moment shall endure

Where are you, and where have you been
Since you left the heart and mind of God
To come and be with me
The feel of you, the smell of you
Lingers and gets lost in my senses
To be carried forever
When you walk away into what-can-be

So, I ask again ~ where are you
Are you drinking me in, as I am you?
And when you move away from here
And Ive had all that I can have
Wherever you are, wherever I am
It will always be...right here, right now.

Karen McConnell
November, 2001

karen mcconnell - artist