Gathered At The Tum – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

“Embrace your grief. For there, your soul will grow.” Carl Jung

Gathered At The Tum

The Tum Tum Tree sat squat in the mall,
was a fat little thing
exuding a vite to be in,
some people you love,
some people you don't,
we gathered to graze it together,
three couples with mum and dad,
his fists weren't friendly but his heart was love
though eventually that gave out too,
he knew his time and lived it through,
we cleared a path for his whole fish platter,
the smell of it hit the table wide,
eagerly he wiped it out with such deft strokes,
oblivious to the passing of time
or the colour of the moving street,
a beat that made me yearn for Dylan's
wit and Jones, but no need,
sun radiated in that room,
our joy written in spice and fish,
an indelible fragment for fading minds.

Soon my father and two marriages will go,
and, in a mark of respect,
the Tum Tum Tree too,
there's no going back,
joy need not grieve though
mixed feelings wrangle me hard.

I thought it, I never said it loud,
dad I love your appetite for life.


Copyright 2022 ©Paul Vincent Cannon
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