"This is for Pa-Paw"

Last night my daughter was at church with her kids, attending Christmas Eve services. As they were leaving, her youngest child, age 2, handed her a blue feather and said that "This is for Pa-paw". Martha didn't know where it come from.

The following is a poem written almost two years ago by Suzanne Horne. This will be the third time I have posted it here:
Sleeping Under Her Wing

At night when all is quiet

I notice my toes are warm

despite the snow on the ground

beneath me.

I curl into a ball

at the foot of my bed

hiding the hurt

and the tears

from little patters

of feet.

I wail so hard

silently my head

wants to explode.

She with her wing

wipes my tears.

She with her words

sings to me

and twiddles my hair.

I rub a single feather

I plucked from her wing

and stroke my cheek with it.

It soothes me.

I am warm.

I am safe.

I pull it together.

I send her

that same feather.

Although she has tons.

~Liquid