Post by amelie on Jan 28, 2004 11:56:05 GMT -5
You held my hand as
We walked down the road
With no corners.
You taught me
The ‘Clip, Clop Song’,
And I skipped as
We sang the lines
Back and forth.
‘Clip, clop my little horse,
Clip, clop again sir.
How many miles to London town?
Four score and ten sir.’
‘Clip, clop my little horse,
Clip, clop again sir.
Will we be there by candle light?
There and back again sir.’
I believed I had you
To myself for the length
Of our journey and
It made me giggle,
Because it was warm
And the road was long.
We walked by fields
Of spaghetti hoops
And crinkle cut chips,
And stopped for a cone
From the ice cream cows.
Sometimes you carried me,
And I was a giant.
You were all of me
And I wanted to be you,
And I knew when
I was tired, I could slip
Into your jacket pocket
And stay snug in
The feel and smell of you,
Listening to your heart
Like a circus drum
In my dreams of
Clowns and pretty horses.
But somehow,
You found a turning
And slipped away
When I wasn’t looking,
And I have stood here,
At that road I trusted
Had no corners,
For the longest time,
Waiting for you to come back.
But I know now you
Didn’t mean to leave,
And you know,
I know you know,
You always knew
I loved you with
The reverence of magic,
The mystery of rainbows,
And the breathless thrill
Of waves splashing over
My head at the seaside.
Or when you tossed me high
In the air like a penny,
Tumbling and turning
And spinning into
An infinity of pure joy.
You were my fiery dragon
Who I controlled
With a curl of my lip,
Or the crook of a finger.
I understood, even then,
How daddy dragons
Were compelled to please
Their little girls,
And you revelled,
I know you did,
In the advantage I took
Of that first fact of life;
The power of my pleas
Utterly overwhelmed you;
It must have been so hard
To leave without me;
I wish I had seen that then.
I still have your music,
And will always
Be Jennifer Juniper,
And I promise to still cry
For a short while
When an old song
Catches me unawares.
But, daddy,
I am a woman now;
I followed in your career;
I was reasonably good to mum
And I never did drugs.
It is time for me
To take another’s hand,
And walk on, keeping clear
Of any unexpected junction.
And will I teach her
‘The Clip, Clop Song’? ...Of course I will.