Our Bond

The tarnished silver sparkling through the shop window,
The day before my 12th year.
‘I’ll buy it for you,’ my dad had said.
Smelling fresh, warm bakery bread from
the nearby Baker’s Delight.
‘It’s too expensive,’ I heard myself say.
‘Nothing’s too expensive for my baby girl.’
The next day, after soft spongy cake,
it was there on the table. A box
with blue ribbon, poised perfectly.
I slowly unwrapped it, my heart
ripping to get out.
I held it, felt the tarnished silver
on my sweaty hands from the hot Darwin sun.
Its eyes twinkled like the moon on a black night.
It snuggled in my hand like a real owl.
The bird of the night was my favourite animal.
The wings wanted to flap, fly away,
but it sat there, still.
My pendant, a connection with
My father, our bond,
its sad & solemn face waiting to
be awoken to feel happy again.