we gather treasured offerings
of moments with you,
previously kept close and
never shared ...
like rare seashells,
pushed up from the sea
onto the shore, never an instant
sooner than necessary.
in repose, framed within a
broken rosary of roses and
photographs,
you become
our benevolent enigma.
quiet was the manner in which
you held yourself tall;
a hero with arthritic, craftsman hands.
silent was the
laugh whose breathless sound
i cannot remember; but the
wide, toothless smile it was wrapped in
i will always see so clearly.
my regret is in never
asking why you preferred
vanilla to all other tastes and
what thoughts you looked so lost in
during tv commercial breaks.
you were supposed to give me away at my wedding;
i wish i had asked if you would.
your devotion to family and
deep love of God, your
unbroken promises
inspire me to be better.
you have always inspired me to be better,
a piece of my heart that remains
light
when the weight of the organ is
beyond what my body can bear.
i pray you
stay a legend and the
one man
who in life never let me down.
be all of these things to me
but gone. |
Submission Name: be all but gone
