(Poem) My Father and I by Dale Allen

My father and I

Were staring at the beautiful night sky.

It was so black, so big, and unbounded.

And the stars were there

Trillions of them!

Fixed, bright, clear:

It was magnificent.

I felt small under that panorama.

It’s been there so long,

And it will be there

Even when this earth is long gone.

It’s so awesome and overpowering,

And the thought it being so eternal

And me being so transient

Scared me.

But not my father.

He understands the universe.

I was lying down on the grass

And he was lying underneath it.

Notes

I wrote this poem when I was 18 years old.  My father died when I was 3 ½ years old.  He has been with me all my life. 

When my Mago submission was due this morning, this poem came to my attention me like a shooting star.  I went to the basement and found my poetry book. Yesterday was my father’s birthday.  Tomorrow is Father’s Day. This Mago submission is my father, Allen Schmid’s doing. 

PS: My name is Dale Allen.  When I was in my 20s and working in New York and LA in acting, voice-overs and stand-up comedy, I created the name Dale Allen, using my father’s first name in place of our surname.

(Meet Mago Contributor) Dale Allen