June 2017

as i sit here

looking at your sleeping face

i wonder how you could have done so much harm

could have ripped me open time and time again

how you could shy away from your responsibilities

left me to fend for myself

told me that i wasn’t enough

but when you drift into sleep

i see a tear dried on your cheek

the remnant of the heart you tried to cover so well

the farther I get from needing you

the more I am able love you

for the soft edges that have built up around your cheeks

for the laugh lines

for your stereotypical nose

for your tiny lips

your gray streaked hair

how time has taken a toll on you

my fighter, always on the defense

but standing on the front line

plowing through anything standing in his way to create a life for himself

as well as for me