As My Father Lay Dying

Gaunt and jaundiced; Like a yellow scarecrow

supine upon the bed.

Who are you?

Certainly not my father,

Who can pick me up and put me on his shoulder;

Who can carry me in one arm!

You are a brother now.

As I look deep into your eyes

I see someone

I’ve never seen before:

A fellow traveler on the journey;

Someone who walks before me

Into a land I will someday know.

Yet, now I see you, soul to soul:

Soul brothers, soul friends…

About to part.

Shall I see you again?

Perhaps...

But never again as I see you now.

RJB (1995)