A poem about my son.
By my side as I fade to black.
The end of my journey, but let's take it back.
The wedding of your daughter, I watched you weep,
I couldn't last long, my aging feet.
That Christmas the oven caught on fire,
The jokes we shared that day never tire.
Your children as young ones, running up and down the lawn,
We drank from beer bottles remembering when they were born.
With your wife as your son entered this world,
Your family complete, baby boy, little girl.
On a boat, cutting through the glassy lake,
I comforted as you cried, talking of your mistake.
The clever video you made announcing the news,
She's pregnant, first time, oh how watching it kept us amused.
Your wedding day, under an array of a thousand stars,
You kissed your new wife, we sipped single malt by the bar.
When you called your mother and I stood by the phone,
And I overheard you say, 'I don't want to be alone'.
The surprise visit, holding hands at our doorstep with the girl of your dreams,
I still hear your mother's elated screams.
The promotion you so desperately desired,
Now yours because your hard work continued to inspire.
The disappointment we all felt when you didn't get those marks,
The promise to stick by you, even in the dark.
For life can get tricky, when doing it alone.
Reassuring you that with us, you'll always have a home.
Your little face going bright red when you spoke of your first kiss,
But then hearing how, in your heart, it was total bliss.
The medal that I placed over your adolescent shoulders,
'Did you see the goal I scored,' you eagerly told us.
Your first day of daycare, how you reached out for me to pick you up,
How I wiped your tears, kissed your cheek to keep your chin up.
When you lay looking at me on your changing mat with that cheeky smile,
Mummy realising why changing your nappy always took a while.
As you giggled away to my silly faces,
And I thought to myself there are no other places.
Right here with you, my son, is always where I wish to be.
Even though, in time, it may not always be.
But seek the spaces between the memories we will make,
And you'll find me there, a proud Dad, with a smile on my face.
