Flashes of my childhood hero

The one who was so strong

No matter what life threw at you

Nothing could go wrong

Ageing made me join a crowd

The time we spent was less

I became too busy for you

That I must confess

The little games we used to play

I outgrew them with denial

“I’ll see you later, I’m out with friends”

Our gap grew a mile

My weekends became so vital

Deciding what to wear

“What time will you be back tonight”

You know I didn’t care

I shed my skin and grew some wings

Lived my life so true

I’d call you when “I had the time”

Or when I thought of you

Christmas became the time we met

Or maybe when someone died

We’d ask how things were in life

Our genuine love hid with pride

You, the one who gave me life

Slowed down

My weekends became less routine

No longer the party crown

Work took over everything

I’d have a drink or two

Answer all the social media

Remind me to call you

I finally learned to settle down

No more a rat in the race

Hair turned grey more each year

Lines adorned my face

Like you, I became a parent

I held my child in my arms

Swore eternal love for them

Keep them safe from harm

The years they passed so quickly

No more little games we shared

They were too busy with their friends

I thought they no longer cared

I always said I loved you

Yet I heard “Yeah that is ok”

Can’t you say it back to me?

At least one time I will say

Then it struck me

I did the same before

I had become the version

Of the one I did ignore

Time moves on so quickly

Faces become waves

Memories become bar tales

Names etched into graves

For the time is what we lose in life

Survival is first

We live inside a ball of hope

Shattered with a fist

I stare into your name

Etched upon your grave

A heart full of regret

My mind an empty cave

Turning to my child

They ask who is this

I tales of a hero

Who loved me with such bliss

We leave hand in hand

Tighter than I held yours

I’m sorry for that, I truly am

I’ve made peace with my wars

You laid the foundations

As I now build those again

Our names won’t be forgotten

No more future pain

Like your parents loved you

Just like you love me

Our legacy smiles from up above

For all eternity