Leo
In a galaxy far, far away….
I think of Leo
and I smile
I can hear a violin
a minute violin
playing alongside
a loving Stradivarius
And I stand in awe
And I smile
I can hear piano concertos
and smell his library
of encyclopedias
so thick
so unreachable
At 8 yrs. old,
the avid reader
was undeterred
by the complexity of
A history of Eighteen-Century Vessels
the Holy Bible
or the instructions
to assemble a human body
When I think of Leo
I think of a sailor’s pipe
and a rocking chair
I think of the He-Man strength
with which he saved mom
from handicapping heights,
the speed
to hold a schoolgirl
as she got ejected
from a bus’s frame
and the coolness
with which he extinguished
a kitchen fire in our home
“Saving others is one of his strengths,”
I was told
And I stand in awe
When I think of Leo,
I think of water guns
and little red beans
that burn your skin
when rubbed
I think of badminton
and, Lady, our dog
I think of Coyolxauhquis
and museum trips
I think of India, Puerto Rico, and Rome
When I think of Leo
I think of rainforest ants
trailing after the rain
in Mayan lands,
and centipedes
in Chichen-Itza
Also, painting boats with dad
And, I stand in awe
and I smile
When I think of Leo
I see a brother who protected me
from a tarantula
and from a woman
with lepric skin
And I see a lush garden
our very first paradise
where he once collected
huge leaves for a test flight
I see ice cream in a helmet
and “motorcycle” rides
with handles of boy's hands
And, I stand in awe and I smile
When I think of Leo
I think of so many places
so many people
so many times
And, I think of the boy
who wanted to heal
And I stand in awe
because, soon, his dream will be real
At 45 he doesn’t seem deterred
to mount on a flight
and reach a new height
He’ll chase after Skeletor
He’ll give Luke a new arm
Only God knows
what the new career shrouds
I will always be in the garden
so lush and so thick
watching him fly
to galaxies far and near
And I’ll stand in awe
because
when I think of Leo,
I’ll always have a smile.
