The Fox at the Window

By Karen Deal Robinson

It was in the month of May
And the old folks they were ailing.
We were worried and blue, didn’t know what to do
When we saw their strength was failing.
And we lay in bed, and we prayed and said
“God, please send us beauty.”
Then a fox overhead, right above our bed,
Sang in our bedroom window:

“Don’t be afraid and don’t be dismayed,
Keep your ears and your eyes wide open.
Run through the night and sing to the Light,”
Said the fox that sang at the window.

It was in the month of June
And my mother lay a-dying.
We sat by her bed and we stroked her head
And we could not keep from crying.
But all night long I sang her songs
As she slipped away in her sleeping,
For the fox’s song still kept me strong
And the courage it was keeping.

“Don’t be afraid and don’t be dismayed,
Keep your ears and your eyes wide open.
Run through the night and sing to the Light,”
Said the fox that sang at the window.

It was in the month of July
And we walked in a mountain meadow
And my mother’s voice made my heart rejoice
As she smiled through my memory’s window.
And the fox that we’d seen around our house
Seemed to have gone away now,
But the fox’s song still kept me strong
For I knew what it would say now:

“Don’t be afraid and don’t be dismayed,
Keep your ears and your eyes wide open.
Run through the night and sing to the Light,”
Said the fox that sang at the window.

It was in the month of August
And the church was filled with flowers.
And the people there came to love and share
My mother’s sweetest hours.
And just before the preacher spoke
We looked out of the window…
And a fox looked in with a foxy grin
That said “She’ll always love you.”

“Don’t be afraid and don’t be dismayed,
Keep your ears and your eyes wide open.
Run through the night and sing to the Light,”
Said the fox that sang at the window.
August 19, 2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karen Deal Robinson is a mathematics teacher, novelist, poet, and musician, with interests ranging from sundials and labyrinths to prayer beads and board games. You can find out more at her website, and you can find her novels here.