Hey Rafa, can you help me?
It seems I’ve mislaid a small
But significant part of myself,
And the last time I remember
Seeing it was when we first met.

You remember all the events
In your life, or so it appears,
While I lived through most of
The intervening years looking away,
Following signs that were
Meant to warn me off.

Days, months, weeks, years:
Time flies when you’re having fun
Imagining a life that must
Surely be better than the one
You’re living, but then find
It’s somehow even worse.

And of course, the me that
Finally escaped was not the me
That trapped himself all those
Years before, when he first saw
The beginning of who
You would become.

So Rafa, please help me by
Showing me how you moved
Forward through those long years,
So I can try to get somewhere near
Where I was when you first caught
My eyes and a million others.

06/04/2021

Author's Note: Rafael Nadal reached the men's singles final at Wimbledon for the first time in 2006. He was beaten in four sets by Roger Federer.

Posted on 06/11/2021
Copyright © 2024 Richard Vince