nighttime reflection

why do you hide from me, my friends?
the little one does cry
as she sits upon the roof
and looks to the night sky
she searches through the clouds that drift
and obscure the stars tonight

we hide not from your eyes, young one
but are hidden by the rain
that will fall down tomorrow night
and wash away your pain
the tears we shed long ages past
have fueled the clouds' campaign

i do not understand why you
have given them your tears
but if you tell me that the rain
will wash away my fears
then, my loves, i shall believe
as my pain disappears

go inside, our youngest friend,
and fold a paper bird
let the world see how it flies
from heart to mind to word
draw upon its folded wings
a teardrop old and blurred

and so she sits now at this desk
with origami hands
she folds the paper upon which
was written once demands
the list of friends she once invited
to witness wedding bands

and one completed, she begins
another brother crane
this paper was the song she wrote
to alleviate pain
she folds and smooths her fingertips
across her heart's old drain

one more, she whispers quietly
and then i shall go sleep
she holds the paper in her hands
and silently starts to weep
the poem that he wrote for her
the one whose love was deep

she stands outside beneath the clouds
her star-friends wept for her
and here she lays three cranes down soft
one bird after another
like infants lying in still graves
her heart she now inters

she looks up to the apathetic sky
and says her piece
i once was so blissfully ignorant
and so naive
but now, my friends, i know
the stinging losses i've received

one small heart (with one big mouth)
out in her yard tonight
with three small cranes made of her life
and one wavering light
so sit beside her in your spirit
and see if you're all right......