The Little Teddy Bear

The Little Teddy Bear

1916
Winds of war blow across the land
Shells fall, whistling their death tune
Gunshots near the village
Tanks and men

A little boy huddles under his bed
Hiding
Clutching all he has left
A teddy bear

Ragged, but sewn well
Buttons for eyes
Small bow upon it’s neck
Soft

His parents gone
The Germans
A wounded GI had found him
And given to him the little Bear

Days come and go
Chilly nights
Warmed only by the touch
Of his cuddly bear

War is over
An orphanage
He clings to his only possession
Now wet with many tears


1944
War again
He marches into battle
Gun at side
Bear, in his backpack

Across fields he runs
Avoiding land mines
Gun fire
Shells


At night
When he sits alone
Out comes his little bear
And away goes the fear

Winter sets in
He is still alive
They come to a small village
In France

Christmas night
War rages on for the town
They break through
And liberate it

House to house
Searching for the enemy
Until he hears her
A little child, crying

He kneels
And looks under the bed
She recoils in fear
Whimpering

Gun set aside
He opens his pack
One last time his hands touch
His little bear

He smiles at it
Then at her
She sees the bear
His smile

His hand slides under the bed
She takes it
Emerging from her hiding place
Clothes tattered and torn

She looks up at him
Tears streaking her little face
Looks at his little bear
And opens her arms


It passes then
From man to child
For once in so many years
He lets it go

She hugs it
Holds it tight
And weeps
Upon her little bear

She carried that bear
For all her years
As she lay upon her deathbed
He was there

No fear
As she passed on that Fall
Her arms tightly holding
Her little bear

It baffled them
As they read her will
Everything went to her family
Except that teddy bear

On Christmas eve
A little boy
In his hospital bed
Waited for Santa

He awoke
Still dark outside
Somewhere over the speakers
Silent night played softly

A package was there
Next to his bed
Tied in a ribbon
Bright, cheery and red

He tore it open
Joy on his face
And laying within
A little teddy bear


He hugged it
And kissed it
Named it Ted
Then brushed off all the leaves it had

He thought it odd
Leaves covered it
And it seemed cold and a little wet
He snuggled it hard, and with it he slept

The attorney sat that night
Remembering the will
He found it strange
What she had said

Take this bear, and give it a box
Put it upon my grave
On my estate plot
And let it be

For it not stay
When it is needed
May it find it’s way
To a child’s arms

Slightly snoring, the little boy slept
A leaf caught in his hair
The bear woke up, and looked about
Blew the leaf off
And hugged his little boy

Hallowed Halls

Hallowed Halls

Moonlight
Waves crash hard upon the cliff
The cliff of the house
The place of those Hallowed Halls

Children sleep this night in it’s many rooms
A feeling of being watched taunting them
Wood creaks gently in a breeze
A warm glow seeping through the wood

Nights go by
Years
A restless spirit waifs about the halls
Of her hallowed home

Untouched by time she walks
In her home
Alone and quiet
Until this night

Serenity as they sleep
She watches, smiling at the children
Such joy they have brought her
She stands over a little girl
Memories of her childhood

A smell comes to her like a spirit
Beckoning her
Fear
Smoke waifs through the halls
Fire, here in her hallowed home

She is instantly there
And helpless
Flames lick the ceiling of the kitchen
The room below them
The children

The wood of the house cries out to her
Spirit meets it as she rages through the halls
Touching every bit of the wood
Calling to it

Life long ago thought lost
Gone from the depths of the forest
Erupts into her spirit
And she glows with a light not seen by human eyes
The fire grows

Spirit flies into a child’s room
Her little girl
She awakens at the light
And stares

Before the little girl stands the woman
Hair flowing in a spiritual wind
Dress clinging to her, flapping about
Knowing eyes

“Run, leave this house now!”
She jumps from bed and runs yelling down the hall
Unsure why, she yells of fire
Not of the ghost

People awaken
The blaze has grown
And the house is threatened
She watches as they all leave
Unable to fight the heat and smoke

Her house will die
And she with it
Spirit weeps
Aches

Aimlessly people mill about
Glow of the moon on them
Shouts
Hugs from parents
And she stands alone in the house

Wind picks up
Rages
A breeze breaks through the real world
To hers

She floats to a balcony and looks out to the sea
Waves far below
Too far
And the wind grows

Memories long gone come to her
A mighty wave reaches up the cliff
To her balcony

There before her eyes
Illuminated in the moonlight
The water stands still
And for the first time in over a hundred years
She sees Him

Arms spread wide he calls the sea to her
And the waves obey
With the force of an ancient love
Water comes forth from the sea
From him

It envelopes the house
Crashing into it
And rushes to the fire
Hissing and smoke pour out
And their eyes meet

Long ago lovers
He built his ship from their place
Deep in the woods
And set sail

Their hands had crafted it together
They would travel together
This man and his lover
To see the world

Then they came
To her forest
Their home
Trying to stop them
A bullet through her heart

Falling she grabbed an old oak
And died there
Enraged he had killed them all
And wept for days over her

He buried her then
In her trees
And left in his boat
To his sea he so dreamed of
To the crashing rocks
To his death

Years gone by
And new men came
They took the trees
And made this house
And with the trees came her spirit

He looked at her
A wet hand reached out
Taking it she pulled him from the waves
To her house
To her heart

Halloween

Halloween
Poem 1

Dusk. Leaves rustling lightly
Deserted streets
He runs
Terror stricken

Fear pounds in his heart
Pulse races
Through the woods
Dark and cold

His face shows worry
As it gets nearer
Unseen by his eyes
But felt by his soul

Halloween night
Cold
A chill that cuts to his bones
And still he runs

Edge of the woods
He stops, panting
Cold sweat breaks out
And he feels it again
Closer

Like a ghost it comes
A thief in the night
Silently at first
Then bursting forth
Chasing him



He sobs lightly to himself
Fear grips him once again
He knows it is near to him
Feels it coming closer

Catching his breath he runs
Faster then he ever remember he has
Bursting from the woods
Onto a lonely road
So lonely

It  gains ground on him
He knows now it sees him
No where to hide
But his eyes search anyway

Jack O’ Lanterns on porches
And no one around
Turning a corner
He sees them

Children
Going door to door
Laughing
He slows
Feeling safer for some reason

Memories of a happier time
Last year
His daughter
On Halloween

He slows to a walk
New tears now
For a daughter lost
Cancer

Looking like hell
Feeling it following him
He walks among the people
The children

Smiling
Remembering
Crying
They must think I am nuts

Unshaven
Tattered clothes
Sweating
Crying
A costume of his own

Lost in time
And memories
He walks alone
Into the night

He stops finally
In front of a cemetery
Walks into it
Wind blows lightly
And on the Autumn air
He feels it coming again

He does not run
His feet carry him onward
Past every type of headstone
Until he finds it

He stands there
Smiling
Looking down
And pulls himself together
A child’s gravestone
Little Angel
Arms holding a child
Grave holding his little girl

He hears it at the gates
Coming for him
A look of determination
No longer fear

Onto his knees he falls
Taking the angel in his arms
He whispers to her
Please remember me

Somewhere out there
In a world not so far away
A silent whisper drifts
A man she once knew
Someone called Daddy

She lets go the hand
Of her Angel
And drifts away
Please remember me

It comes back to her
A life somewhere else
Someone’s pain
On the day she left

Please remember me
Like a beacon to her soul it comes
And she goes
She remembers


She seems him as he was that day
As she left and floated off
His pain floats to her
She looks back
And a host of angels follow her
Singing

Cold and sick
He hugs her stone
As it stands behind him
Glaring
His mortality

A cough
More blood
So sick since she left
So alone

His hand reaches out
To her mother’s stone
Drunk driver
Three years ago
But the pain remains

Scared
Fear of the unknown
So dark out
And alone
He holds onto this world

He looks up to the heavens
So many stars this night
Millions of them
Glowing bright



He sniffles
Wipes away tears
Darkness recedes
Stars glow brighter

Like clouds breaking
Light bathes him
Warm
Inviting

Please remember me
His head lays upon the stone then
Cold
Eyes staring

A hand reaches out to him
Warmth fills him
Like he has never before felt
He looks up

His little girl smiles down
Behind her floats a host of Angels
His wife holds her other hand
Looking down at him

My baby he cries
I  remember you she whispers
Always and forever
A smile crosses her face

He stands
And looks down upon himself
In a hospital bed
Come on daddy
Come home



He lets go
Three souls travel
Through a chorus
And protected by an army
Of Angels

The doctor shakes his head
He’s gone
He writes down the time
And ponders the man’s smile

A little piece of paper
Clutched in his hand
Just three words
Please remember me