LOVE Poem: caesar, by Michael Russell

maybe it was your eyes:
clear, studiously present,
concealing nothing, judging less.
maybe it was your song:
consoling to my spirit,
like an easy, morning rain.
maybe it was your innocent joy:
as genuine as mine, a child’s,
and wide open, like when you
spread your wings.
there is no single reason
why i loved you, i just did,
your whole, sweet presence.

i came home from school one day
and gramma told me you had
passed. i missed you right away,
but i had to submerge my grief,
because boys weren’t allowed tears.
my father had wrapped you
in soft cloth and placed you
in a little box for burial.
secretly, early next morning,
while an easy rain fell,
i unpacked your delicate,
sacred body, said goodbye, and
stroked lovingly your beautiful,
intricate feathers while you slept.