Elizabeth

This is for my "borrowed" Grandma (My wife, Jeanie's Grandma), Helen Elizabeth Cheney

Elizabeth, you held my heart so near,

as near as any given you at birth.

Without a second thought you called me “dear”

and looked beyond the troubles to the worth.

Although my stubborn tongue refused to tell,

you heard my heart and didn’t probe the shelf,

so high, that hid my past. You primed the well

but let me pump the blood of life myself.

And now my turn to play the “catcher” role,

the one you played for me without a net.

And now my turn to touch a troubled soul--

it seems so hard without you here. And yet,

Elizabeth, you taught me well; love grieves

but, given and returned, it never leaves.