New Poem for my Grandson, Colin Jude

Colin's "Word" for Love

     “Gefuehl ist alles. Name ist Schall und Rauch.” (Goethe’s Faust)


     --for my Grandson, Colin Jude



Feeling is what Colin Jude does.

He loves his Grandma Linda,

Curls his head into hers,

Leans into her body.



Colin at age one has just a few words,

Thinks that the names of things just might be smoke and mirrors.

Has not yet learned their precision or treachery,

Their poison or their poetry.

But he knows love.



I watch him lay his head on a pillow

Next to me, his Grampa. He snuggles

Head to head, feels the warmth and pulse

Of our lives together.



This baby, this toddler dances to my pennywhistle,

Pounds on my piano,

Plays—then prances—yes stands

Upon my bodhran, my Irish drum.



Cuisle mo chroí, pulse of my heart,

Mein Schaetzchen, mein Herz,



My heart, my heart!


[Bob Coughlin--August 16, 2011]


Notes:


1. The quote from Goethe’s Faust could be translated, “Feeling is everything. The name of things is but smoke and mirrors.”


2. “Cuisle mo chroí” is Irish Gaelic and means “pulse of my heart.”


3. “Mein Schaetzchen” is German for “my little treasure; “mein Herz” means “my heart.”