Conversation With My Father (Poem)

I ask him,

“Why did you not tell me

The happenstances of getting older?

That the months and years would steadily speed,

While the amount of time and energy

Needed for any one task would increase?

Or that the ability to dance would diminish but never the desire?”

He replies,

“You remember, surely, that I never had the chance to learn these things.

I died a younger man than you have been for many years.

So you are indeed solitary on this journey,

Though I tried to give you what tools I could.”

I smile and take his hand.

“As long as I can remember you, I am not alone.”