For a moment,
I thought grandfather finally lost his mind
That he had become confused,
Could no longer see the truth

Grandfather sat quietly,
Fire ablaze on this starry night.
I waited, waited for his response
But silence is what I got.

I didn’t know how to respond to the silence
Should I ask him again? I thought to myself.
Did he not hear the words I say?
Grandfather, simply went away.

And then in that moment . . .
In the blackened depths of this night,
The owl dropped down from the mighty tree
And plunged into the blindness of this night.

Moments passed and then grandfather quietly spoke. . .

My child,
Like the eagle, the owl is a Great Spirit.
The eagle flies by day,
And the owl by night.

The eagle reminds us . . .
That we are on a great flight . . . the journey of our life!
Experiencing new dimensions of awareness and
Inviting us to look and see with new eyes in the light.

While the Owl,
Is the bringer of intuition and insight.
Guiding us to see in the dark,
Beyond the veils of illusion and deception.

Every single night . . .
The owl takes the “Unknown” flight!
While the eagle flies in broad daylight.
Two birds, one in the same.

Simply called, by two different names.

I will never forget that night,
The night I sat by grandfather,
And watched him go away.
While the owl took flight, probably in his place.

When Grandfather passed,
And crossed over the great spiritual plane,
I inked him on my back,
And I have never felt the same.

Carrying the wisdom, of he who went before me.

© Raja Williams