seems you and I have always lived here
and though the calendars indeed number twenty-eight
like Noah’s Arc adrift on a placid sea
time has no relevance here

how far we’ve come since divorced uncertainty
when our carefree universe
of tire swings and ice cream cones
suddenly squeezed into a basement apartment
shared with a friend aka saving angel
later to become your uncle

you were only four and couldn’t stay long
every second weekend
father and son making the best of each moment
with walks in search of new playgrounds
soon easily found
confectioneries where we could continue our love
of all things cold and sweet

at night after Sega and Ghostbusters
we’d retire to a room barely big enough
to hold dresser and double bed
and in the slow painful healing of wounds
between father mother and child
both of us yearning for something better

as if some higher power gave ear to our prayer
wasn’t long before the search took us
to a suburb called South Keys
a pleasant community of garden homes
where even broken families could stretch out
and grow anew
supermarkets shopping plazas movie theatre
and restaurants catering to every taste
all within walking distance

one house in particular already with our name on it
big enough for both to have his own bedroom
an important point
you having grown another three years
and a small back yard
easily holding lawn chairs and barbecue
your mother impressed
moved nearby though far enough away
and Southvale On the Park
where the journey began and ended
for the three of us together
became a more distant less painful memory

since that time
you’ve grown to a man
through the trials come with the process
together we’ve survived...grown closer
and though the calendars indeed number twenty-eight
seems you and I have always lived here
like Noah’s Ark adrift on a placid sea
where time has no relevance


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Revised © 2018, 2024

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05/28/2018

Posted on 05/28/2018
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti