Poem: Shadows – To My Sister Olive

Shadows 
To My Sister, Olive
 
Often all unbidden as the years have drifted by,
Visions of our childhood come to haunt my memory
Pictures of the canyon where we played so long ago,
Dark with shadowy redwoods that was home to you and me.
 
Here beneath the shadows with the brother we adored,
Far beyond the outside world we lived a life apart.
Climbed the lofty mountain peak, to where the eagles soared,
Every treacherous turning of the trail we knew by heart.
 
None were there to guide us, but we flourished like the weeds-
Life was all a joy to us, and straight and clean and free,
Learned of Mother Nature for no other seemed to care-
Strong and ever stronger grew the bond between the three.
 
Often growing weary of the shadow of the Mill
Closing in around us a prison seemed to be-
Then the Mountain called us for we knew a mile away
High above the timber we could look upon the Sea.
 
Oh, the wild elation as we turn the magic bend,
Look upon the ocean like a miracle below,
Stand and gaze in silence at the vision ever new-
Stand and wonder vaguely why our hearts are beating so.
 
Though the darkness finds us climbing down the mountain trail
Never to our minds occur the thought of childish fears,
While, beneath the redwoods where we lived, all unaware
Day by day a shadow formed, and darkened with the years.
 
Though the shadows thicken with the swiftly passing years,
Nothing from our hearts can take the rapture we have known-
Death has cast his shadow, taking him we loved so well
Broke the magic circle, leaving you and me alone.
 
Now, with clearer vision as we travel down the trail-
Filled with sun and shadow, find our lives together cast,
Guided by his Spirit which is never far away
Firmly linked together in our memory of the past.
 
 
Mabel E. Plaskett,
October 23, 19434