Far From Strife

Where did you skip, Carmelita?
Where did you run and play?
Scrambling over the stoney shoreline
On a glorious summer day.

Giggling when you were swept aloft
By Daddy's loving arms;
Stirring smiles from schooner men
As you passed with elfish charms.

As sunshine lay in patchwork quilt
Upon the forest floor,
You scampered over rock and root
In the woods behind the store.

Through childhood joy that filled your days,
That seemed so far from strife,
Could you feel the infinite sadness
That later touched your life?

Did you peer out your dark window
And marvel at the light
Swirling by from St. Jacques island,
A beacon in your night?

Did you then feel the darkness
That later penned you in?
In your later years, did you long to see
The lighthouse dispelling the dim?

No. In your youth, nought could eclipse
The radiance of your eyes -
Beaming features with healing touch
That made the spirit rise.

Too young to follow your brothers
On a hike up Bottle Hill,
I found you there years later
For your spirit lingers still

Over the hills and gleaming waters
Of this quiet little place,
I can hear your childish laughter,
I can see your smiling face.

Michael Coady © 1996