More Than I Hoped For

    by Stacey Dye

Mama, on the day you died,

I looked for a sign; something

to let me know that everything

was all right, that you were all right.

I looked first to the sky,

in search of a cardinal, your

favorite bird and our symbol

of good luck.

A harbinger of spring, a sign

of rebirth, so fitting for today

as you entered heaven to escape

your broken body, to be whole again.

I just knew when I finally walked

out of that hospital even though

winter had it’s grip on South Georgia,

I’d see them everywhere--

perched on wires, flitting from tree

to tree, and soaring through the skies.

If nothing else, I hoped at least to hear

their familiar song.

But on that particular February day

there were none, not one to be found.

I felt my eyes burning as my heart sank

into my stomach.

I couldn’t accept their absence. I couldn’t

believe God wouldn’t give me this one

small thing. And then suddenly it began

to snow for the first time in twenty years. . .

and I understood.

© 2011 Stacey Dye

In 2006, Stacey Dye began to seriously pursue the art of poetry.  Her favorite subjects are the human condition and nature.  She has been featured in Camroc Press Review, Dew on the Kudzu, Mused, Poor Mojo’s Almanac(k), Ribbons, Sketchbook, and others.