You said, as a baby,
when I cried and was
too sick to sleep
you walked me through
the long dark night,
cradled in your arms,
our shadows stretched
unbroken, from one street lamp
to the next, until I was calm,
One of my first
memories--being perched
high atop your shoulders
at the State Fair,
I felt like a giant,
head above the crowd,
cotton candy fingers
grasping your forehead,
and sticking to your hair,
you didn't seem to care
As I got a little older we
walked every night after dinner,
I struggled to keep up,
we passed by the barbeque shack
and would always say
how good it smelled
even though our
stomachs were full,
we joked and we laughed,
you were one of my
best friends in the world
Walking with my father
On the weekends we
filled our canteens with water
and our bags with snacks,
trail mix and Slim Jims,
and set out on foot,
for hours at a time,
exploring the urban landscape,
the time was spent in laughter
or quietly, in reflective silence,
those peaceful hours made me strong
in more ways than I ever knew
Walking with my father
After I moved far away and
would come back home
the visit was never complete
without a walk with you,
I noticed you began to lag
behind so I slowed my pace,
it was such a relief to see the face
that meant so much to me,
it seemed like
no years had passed,
the time that was lost,
we could always recapture,
in those steps forward,
even though the past laid
crumbling all around us,
Walking with my father
Now you are older,
with so many miles
on your feet you struggle
to walk with a cane,
in the grip of pain
born of a life lived
with no compromises,
Time is extraordinarily cruel
to the pure of heart, but
we still joke, we still laugh,
I still see so much life
glistening in your eyes
as we both walk towards
our long dark night,
not yet ready for goodbyes...
How I wish I could walk with my father.
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*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and Steemit enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my poetry, my handmade poetry chapbook, Emancipation, is for sale on Peerhub for a limited time.
