Happy Birthday Uncle Walt

So tell me how many heartbeats it has been since you died that first time
                    and found new life inside that dead man from Maine?

I remember the cold sunny days, walking on cracked sidewalks
                   to say goodbye to you again and again

The heartless suffering of fluid building up -- all released
                   through that  little plastic drain. No that is not blood dripping out.

Just life, nothing more. For weeks, I believe there is nothing
                   but this cold bed & the cold ground for you.

But miracles preciptate from such cool sunny despair,
                   like birthdays rain down from frosting on uneven cakes.

It wasn’t long after you awoke that we spoke of God,
                    grandchildren, and the greatness of every blessed moment

Brooke, Peyton, Chloe & Austin know you now,
                    soon Liam, Aiden and Brandon will too.

Your heart beat is steady. Your breath unlabored.
                   your life is laughter and love, hope and heaven

So tell me now, how many days has it been
                   since you found this path from hell’s gate?

Do you remember those gray days in an antiseptic bath
                   of white light, glass, and hypodermic needles?

The heartless suffering of unfluffed pillows, and the fight
                   to say only the things that can be remembered painlessly

Just this, and nothing more. For years now, I believe everything
                   is possible. Because you drained those fluid nightmares

This is the gift of those million little deaths you suffered for me
                   so gallantly.

The wish granted when the candles burned
                   and you could not blow.

For you, the celebration is not of this day, but of the every day
                since you were born again. Your old heart too small

to hold so much love. Your new heart stretching and searching
                for the happy everyday that might otherwise have been buried.