missing you

sometimes I listen
over tea in the afternoon
at my kitchen table
to the advice you
would have given me
but I was so young
back then when you left
I couldn’t see the pain
of a broken marriage
or your courage when faced
with a failing plane
over enemy territory
all I saw was the disease
that shook your body
and mind away from us
rattling the foundation of our family

I miss the memories we never made
the fights when I asserted
my independence as an adult
the talks we could have shared
about my own failed marriage
over tea like we used to
when I complained about
my homework and unfair teachers

ltv
11/11/09