Feliz Cumpleanos (Al Fin)...

By lantern light
with sheer delight
i gaze, no... stare,
at my sleeping son's face...
Suddenly,
the years are erased;
not a trace of the tired old man exists;
he and i are both six,
sleeping in our tent
in the pipeline woods,
waking before first light
to listen to the sounds
and try to distinguish
what they were
Treading softly in the morning dark
along a trail we blazed,
carrying his sleeping bag,
with my staff in hand,
homeward, through the haze...
            09-19-10