a poem/letter to my dad, who passed away. |
It's almost midnight and I wonder where you are I sit on my porch in my rocking chair Watching the moon rise above the trees Traces of honeysuckle, jasmine and magnolia Fill the air and disturb the memories of you This is the time when you and I would sit together Waiting for that moon to rise And the deer to come eat your collards in the garden A comforting silence interrupted our lively chatter A pot of coffee and a pack of cigarettes Here I am now with both, waiting... Remembering how patiently you would listen To my farfetched ideas, laughing and shaking your head That deep Southern drawl reminding me of where I come from And we'd exchange stories of our lives, people we know Compare our beliefs and shrug off the differences Each night trying to make up for all those lost years Pretending to be unaware of the inevitable But I understood what the tears you tried to hide meant. So, now I sit here wondering where you are If you are happy and feeling better There's so much I want to share with you Like, I got into Oxford, my dogs are a year old I remodeled the whole house, Eric is in college And sometimes I swear I hear your deep voice "Babydoll, where's my hug?" It's been almost two years now since you've left And, on nights like tonight, I know you're with me Comforting, yes, but my heart still hurts And I just want to say - I love you, daddy, and I'm sorry we ran out of time. |