Grandfather And The Hippillogriff Poem by Richard D Remler

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I'll share with you a secret
If you promise not to tell.
It's a secret sort-of something
That I know all too well.

Grandfather shared it with me
Not so very long ago.
Just after Springtime's whispers
Melted all the Winter snow.

He said that it was magic,
As bright as stars can shine.
A miracle of nature
Of a most uncommon design.

And that I had to be as quiet
As the wonder in a sigh,
Or I'd miss that spark of fire
As it was passing by.

He led me down a golden stream,
And I followed him into a dream
Of blue, of gold, of gray and green,
Through forests I had never seen.

The sun, she watched us stumble through
Reeds feathered 'round some old bamboo.
She spied us as we climbed so fair
A stony cleft that was not there.

We dared trudge through an old graveyard
Forgotten by the winds of time,
And I was nearly caught off-guard
By a something traipsing through the thyme,

So tired that I had to rest,
To catch my breath and wipe my brow.
But Grandfather ordered me to go,
We had no time to stop just now.

Through forest thick as edgewood leaves
We crept against the shadowed trees,
Where the scent of cedar, cypress, fir
Stalked the flirting satyr breeze.

He paused between a brittle creek
As night time gently ebbed our way,
And there we saw the fireflies
All snickering outside to play.

The crickets fell into their song
As we lost the setting of our sun,
And little tiny stars popped out,
Shining brightly, one by one.

"Don't even breathe, " I heard him say,
And Grandfather knelt within the grass,
Spying something up the way
That shimmered bright as polished brass.

I didn't breathe.I didn't sigh.
I didn't say a single who,
As Grandfather smiled wide
And very gently pointed to

A place beside the waters edge
That lit up in a ghostly light,
Where lightning bugs danced here and there,
In and gently out of sight.

Will-O-the-Wisps would softly glow
A darting wonder through the trees,
And Grandfather, oh, how he smiled
When he spied the willobees.

They were singing something to the night,
A something to the Elder Trees,
A something full of dark, of light,
Accompanied by twilight's breeze.

And there, my Grandfather softly said,
"Hold your tongue and look ahead."
And oh, I held my breath, as I
Spied a wonder in the sky.

I'd never seen a one before,
But I was seeing one tonight.
A something strange and even more,
Dancing circles in the fading light.

"What are they? " I heard my own voice say.
Grandfather nodded his head.
"My Grandpa called them Hippillogriff's, "
And that was all Grandfather said.

I shivered some.I watched them fly,
These Dragonflies with wings of steel,
Eagles heads and talons sharp,
Legs so strong and fit to kill.

With feathers here, and there, and here,
And eyes that understood the night,
Hooves that stomped the mossy earth
And wings that thundered with delight.

And then Grandfather startled me.
He took a step out from the trees.
He smiled brave as any man
Who has faith in what he sees.

And the Creature's were not surprised.
They did not flitter full away.
They flew about my Grandfather
Like Netterwycks at play.

So small they were beside him,
As they rested on his arm,
And I smiled ever dryly,
Relieved of all alarm.

Hippillogriff's, such tiny things -
Like sparrows darting through the light,
Painted soft as Saturn's Rings,
All celebrating this one night.

I could not help but stare with eyes
As wide as Aslan's sea.
And I understood the magic
My Grandfather shared with me.

So, I'll share with you a secret
I've never shared, until today.
A secret sort-of something
Hidden carefully away.

A simple sort of magic
Grandfather knew so well.
I'll share with you this secret,
If you promise not to tell.

Copyright © MMXIIIRichard D. Remler