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Volunteer Lullaby
by Alison McKenzieShe plucks the strings softly
Gentle fingers gliding
Across the meticulously tuned strings of her harp
Celtic tones of hush and peace
Angelic solos
While you drift back off to sleep
Unintended morning nap
Quietly inhaling her offering
Pulse slowing in a
Dawning serenity
Rest, my darling grandmama,
Relief from a dull world of
Good Morning America,
Cereal, bananas, and your pills
So many pills now
And the endless, lonely days
Our volunteer lullaby
She comes to gift you
Karma floating back from an arduous past
How you worked to make sense of life
Beyond the Depression
Abandoned in a catholic orphanage
Fevers of death that did not take your life
How Grandpa hung the moon
And took it down again
Disappointments, responsibilities,
Life in tones of difficult
Now winding slowly down
Tender notes suspending you toward
The end of your river
Rest, my darling grandmama
Our volunteer lullaby
Sweeping away the sadness
Moving you into the clearing ahead
Let go, now, and rest.
03/25/2008 Author's Note: There is a volunteer from the local hospital's pastoral department who comes to play the harp for my grandmother. Her name is Anna, and she has the most beautiful voice. She plays haunting celtic tunes, and my grandmother actually falls asleep sometimes as she plays.
Posted on 03/25/2008
Copyright © 2025 Alison McKenzie
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by David Garner on 03/25/08 at 06:58 PM "Volunteer Lullaby"--these are strange words put together, but that's what it is she plays. Beautiful story here. Excellent images conveing everything. The lines "How Grandpa hung the moon
And took it down again" are hearbreaking. |
| Posted by Rhiannon Jones on 03/30/08 at 02:12 PM Celtic harp is perfect backdrop for such bittersweet sadness as expressed here. I like this one very much. |
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