Kite Tales–A Poem of Faith for Easter

Kite Tales

poem by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

Like a child holds onto a thin, delicate kite string,

I hold onto faith.

At times, I watch the wind snatch my kite

and take my old kite of paper and fine wood aloft

swiftly into a Heavenly atmosphere.

What a glorious sight–

that kite, my faith suspended against a Hoosier sky,

then drifting, drifting, flying, flying–

While I still hold onto the thin, delicate string.

Then, I look up and see the kite’s tail

writing cursive notes on the blue tableau.

Each scrap of material

with which I formed a knot

marks a point when my faith was tested.

I on the Earth;

kite tail on the azure sphere:

I gaze at the fifth knot from the top

and recall ”Peach,”–

yes, that is what her grandchildren called her–

but I called her Mrs. W.

One day, when I was fretting, worrying my best

about something I now cannot even recall,

Mrs. W., to whom I taught braille,

asked me as only she could,

“Girl, where’s your faith?”

Throughout the decades since our braille lessons

In her farmhouse with her husband and their little dog,

I have heard echo in my head her words:

“Girl, where’s your faith?”

Now, I know:

My faith is the paper kite

flying above the field

in my Indiana hometown.

The ball of string unwinds

to a great and growing length

As I still hold on, hold on.

* * *

Best wishes for a sunny and happy Easter!

Alice and Leader Dog Willow

April 16, 2022, Saturday evening

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