Wednesday, January 02, 2008

NEW YEAR'S WISHES FOR MY FATHER

by Thomas D. Reynolds


May the wind always rustle
The orange leaf of your heart.

May the skies never darken
The early morning of your smile.

No one can read your heart
And may the language be always beautiful,

Maddeningly melodic on the tongue
yet mysterious and exotically foreign.

May you walk gracefully
In the shadows of a diminishing sun.

May your soul be light
Yet as firm as the stars

When even the slightest breath
Might send you drifting.


Thomas D. Reynolds received an MFA in creative writing from Wichita State University, currently teaches at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas, and has published poems in various print and online journals, including New Delta Review, Alabama Literary Review, Aethlon-The Journal of Sport Literature, Flint Hills Review, The MacGuffin, The Cape Rock, The Pedestal Magazine, Eclectica, Strange Horizons, Combat, 3rd Muse Poetry Journal, and Ash Canyon Review.