Odin, wishing his son was not grown:

In Asgaard, when it was young and the wolves 

had not yet begun to howl nor my eyes 

begun to dim,  we would walk, you and I, 

down by the river where it was always raining -

the water sunk deep into the weeds, and the bank 

was overrun with activity as everything tried 

to get in or out of the churning water -  I remember 

that your little footsteps squelched as we trod.

My hand clutched yours and we peered into the murky water, 

your eyes constantly drawn by the lure of frogs 

or the shimmer of salmon. In those days you paused often 

and let my words, like that river, wash against you, filling you, 

I hope, with some of the wisdom I had found in my travels.

When you were three you hid a duck under a bucket

that day you clomped down the stairs, a brush that dripped 

paint like laughter, and the time you sat on the window ledge 

and leaned too hard against the fly wire. We all laughed 

when your head popped up from amongst the pineapple sage.

I wish you’d come home, son, but not all grown-up. I’d like, 

just occasionally, that three old to visit me again so I could 

hold him close and maybe try even harder

to imprint what I know must fade.

 

As it is, standing by the river, the rainbow bridge

shows signs that it fades, and my empty hand throbs with memory -

I feel like I am a duck under a bucket, waiting.