Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Time Marches On: Remembering my daughter

Together on a fall day

Fall colors begin to fade,
Giving way to dark and gray
Who exactly decided you couldn’t stay?

You can be the CEO
or just a street wino
Death as arbitrary as the wind blows.

Years go by and I still wonder why
I barely said hello to your sweet face before goodbye
Perhaps our time together was just a lie.

These new things I build
Hoping the void I might fill
Better to move, they say, than remain standing still.

But am I drifting further away
or drawing closer by the day
It’s all the same anyway.

“Do you have children?” comes the question I dread
Panicked responses swirling in my head
“No,” I answer as the rooster crows — truth unsaid.

The thought of never seeing you again too painful to bear
Reuniting in heaven my only hope of lifting this despair
Please God if you’re there, I beg you, answer just this one prayer.

I'll be waiting for you.