Child Left Behind

This is to the lost,

the child I left

abandoned inside

so many years ago

to be raised

in a lost world

without me.

 

This is to the child

who I never took fishing,

who I buried and denied.

Who I stuffed down

beneath living lies,

eating fear and regret.

 

My child,

who I let sink

and fend for itself

in a dark world

of my design.

 

This didn’t have to be

if I had been strong

or if I had been brave,

though in the beginning

I was but a child.

Not much older than…

when I chose to pull away.

 

I didn’t know what it was

that caused the rift

that grew into an expanse.

I lived, grew up and had a life

while the child remained

living cut from mine.

 

And when I returned

to dig up the grave

it raised its hands

to take my cheeks

and press my face

into a smile and exclaim,

“Oh, there you are, me!”

 

Inspired by Lost Boys Calling – Rodger Waters

Image credit: Cate Forbes