Footprints

I saw the footprints in the sand

As they led away from me

They barely registered in my mind

Until I began to see

That they reminded me of someone I knew

There was that nagging feel

I stopped for just a moment there

And forced myself to kneel

I studied them but could not grasp

Why they held my interest so

It seemed that they were taunting me

I decided to let it go

I raised myself up from my crouch

And continued on my way

Wandering why I’d even taken time

Especially on this day

For life had dealt the harshest blow

Each breath was hard to find

The pain so constant and so deep

I feared I would lose my mind

But I tried to keep on going

So I staggered down the beach

One step…and then another

Was it possible to reach

A place where things could be put right

Where healing might emerge

A song of hope perhaps replacing

The hazy funeral dirge

I missed her more than words can say

Looked forward to the time

When I would join her once again

In another place, sublime

I heard a voice so gentle

As if from another world.

“Hey Mister, what you doin’?”

The sweetest little girl.

I spun around to see her

And almost knocked her down.

Had she snuck up on me purposely?

There was no one else around?

She was drawing something in the sand.

What, at first I could not tell.

But her smile pierced me to my very soul

Then her drawing cast its spell.

It was…a perfect sunflower

I had to catch my breath

It felt like this little angel knew

That before my baby’s death

She had handed me that very flower

Her favorite from her youth

Surely this precious little girl

Could not have known this truth

I opened my mouth to question her

To ask her if she knew

She raised here eyes to meet my own

A familiar smoky blue.

She pointed back behind me

“Do you see those footprints there?

They’re really kind of special

Maybe they have something to share.”

Without looking back I gazed at her

And asked her what she meant

For some reason she ignored me

Not giving the slightest hint

So I turned and looked at the footprints

Marching endlessly through the sand

They faded into the distance

I turned to face her again

My heart was struck with wonder…

There was no trace of her

And yet the sunflower remained unscathed

Vibrant, radiant, pure.

A truth emerged, now plain to see

And yet, hard to take in

There were no footprints anywhere

From whence the girl had been

The morning sun was rising now

It almost blinded me

I turned once more to face my past

For the first time did I see

There was only one set of footprints

In the sand along the shore

The waves were erasing even them

Soon there would be no more

And then the voice so gentle

Whispered deep within my heart

She spoke to me from spirit

Her wisdom to impart

“The footprints tell a story

One that most folks cannot see,

But I believe in you, Mister,

You're different to me.

“But you got to see them as they are

Not try to make ‘em fit

You’re the only one on this path today

And Mister…please don’t quit.

“They're fading now, that’s how it goes

The waves erase their past

What once seemed real has disappeared

They never really last.

“Sometimes we get confused, Mister,

Things get all turned around,

Sometimes we need a little push

Before truth can be found.

“You’ve been messed up, I understand

You’ve felt the greatest pain

But now its time to find whats real

Its time to live again.

“The sunflower is my gift to you

To help you make it through.

A reminder that I’m always here.

And Daddy…I love you.”