he is present

the number 33
revisits me nearly everyday
it's my grandfather's way
of letting me know he is present
that and the pennies
found all the time anywhere

he always stopped
to pick up change
and in so many ways
that became the story of his life
dramatically changing
as he would have never imagined
the known and learned became
unknown and foreign
nearly everything forgotten

the number thirty-three
in change left at his grave
nine years now put there
by one of us who knows
he still visits our lives
ironically I can't remember
who put it there
ice skating on a pond
in East Bridgewater
comes to mind a lot
as do the spots in the old house
where I could feel him the most

never fails though
whenever some time passes
between thoughts of grampy bob
the number 33 will appear repeatedly
until I recognize it is
somehow the way he
keeps in contact with me...