Lament for the Lost

Listen, great spirits, if there’s anyone to hear.

I weep for a man gone long ago whom once I held so dear.

His body remains, but he is nowhere to be seen,

like a child lost and scared in the midst of a bad dream.

I weep for you, my father.  You’re not how you used to be.

I weep for you, my father, for you should be with me.

Father, you were my protector when I was “Daddy’s little girl”.

Father, you were good to me.  Daddy, you were my world.

You were basically my hero.  I looked up to you for years

and alas, your cold-heartedness has finally brought me to tears.

you were the strong arms I ran to when everything went wrong,

and even through the drunken rage I loved you all along.

Everything from our lives together misses you and weeps,

all the things we used to love; the pond, the woods, the creek.

The tall majestic trees who once smiled as you walked by

now drop their leaves, bend their trunks, hang their heads, and cry.

Your son, who once looked up to you, now just shakes his head.

I know you’re just not in my life, but sometimes you just feel dead.

So weep, great spirits, I order you weep.

Cry as I have every night as he sleeps.

Let saltwater well up in your ghostly eyes

and watch as his former “baby girl” cries.

Cry loud enough that he hears your pain,

fill his heart with sadness so he does the same.

Weep for his daughter, deprived of his kiss

and weep for him, who doesn’t know what he’s missed.

The childhood games, they miss you father, they do.

The Friday night movies have been neglected too.

Water Country, Kings Dominion, the pool are all alone.

Soccer games and basketball just want you to come home.

The Saturday morning pancakes have started to get cold

and your once favorite daughter is no longer four years old.

The woman you once loved is now eight-hundred miles away

and once in a while all she wants is for things to feel okay.

Your dear brother and sisters don’t even know who you are

but you don’t care.  It’s never fazed you, so go on, have a seat at the bar.

Your father weeps in heaven as he sees what you’ve become,

and even if you start to miss me please don’t call, we’re done.

I want to know Dad, why ignore me now?

Do you really want to love me and just forgot how?

You did fine.  We had fun ‘till I was like ten.

Why can’t you love me now like you did back then?