I want to remember
I want to remember the way
Your eyes twinkled
And your nose wrinkled
In wry amusement
I want to remember the way
Your hands changed
From nicotine stained
And oil ingrained
To softly manicured
And looking like you had never done
A day’s work in your life
I want to remember the way
You and mum could only do
One dance and yet
Would spontaneously break
Into a waltz
Across the lounge as if
Young teens first met
And not husband and wife
I want to remember the way
Your inventor’s brain
In renewed hope
Would have you scribe fantastic creations
On the back
Of a cigarette pack
Or a used envelope
I want to remember the way
Your scent
Used to be tobacco
And chemicals
And Old Spice
And how it went
To that of Imperial leather soap
And Johnson’s baby powder
I want to remember the way
Your agile fingers flew over the keys
As you played
And I sang
And the boys complained
And you just played louder
I want to remember the way
That we spent hours
Working in your shed
On my crazy creations
And how you taught me
To hit nails on the head
I want to remember the way
You laughed
How you smacked your lips
Over lemon meringue pie
How you were not sleeping
But just resting your eyes
I want to remember the way
You parked just out of sight
As I met with a boy
On my first date night
And how you would give my hand a squeeze
On unsuccessful nights like these
And we would drive home
In silent understanding
Of broken hearts and shattered dreams
I want to remember the way
On my wedding day
That for five, beautiful minutes
We were alone
And not much was said
But so much passed
In that last
Moment of me being your little girl
Before becoming a wife
I want to remember the way
Your eyes filled with love
And mine filled with tears
As holding your first grandson
Reversed the years
And you felt again that love
That took your heart by surprise
And pricked your eyes
And would grow
As he grew
I want to remember the way
On Christmas Eve
When the truth was known
But the magic still lived;
placing my stocking on my bed
seeing my eyes open
you quietly said
‘You’re supposed to be asleep’
And I replied
‘And you’re supposed to be Father Christmas’
And I laughed, and you sighed
And we knew an aeon had passed
In a moment
I want to remember the way
That life went too fast
And I grew up to quickly
And happenings passed
And suddenly, too suddenly
You were old
And I wanted to stop the world from spinning
And the veil of life from thinning
But it wouldn’t do
As I asked
I want to remember the way
You were
a son, a friend, a husband
A Father, an uncle
A grandfather, a great-grandfather
A man
A true gentle, man
A man who was so much more
Than the sum of his parts
A man who will live on
In his loved ones’ hearts.