For Marius

 hair lit with moon beams
eyes sparkling like stars
sweet smile, full lips
framing small white teeth
all of three years old

we played at our  porch
when the sun went down
and parents sat and talked
about the hunt
or fish caught that day

we ran round and round
the bushes of flowers
as the cicadas drone on
we played tag, hide and seek
until my mother called me in
to bed

then Marius would fade away
into the moonlit night
into nothing but a whisper
that hug me to sleep
until the next night
he would come again

appearing on the porch
or in my bedroom
we would talk until I slept
but he was always there
my Marius

On All Souls Day
his parents would visit him
at the cross planted on the ground
and he would smile at me
from across the garden
I often wondered why
they looked down and sob
instead of looking up and smile

the years went by
and Marius came by
all grown just as I was
one last look from outside
my window
and he faded away
never to return

(Marius died when he was about three years old.)

*this poem was entered in a competition here. thank you for reading*