Two Thanksgiving's ago
My beloved father
Died gracefully,
After suffering terribly
From cancer for two years.
I had thought,
That after he died
I had released my burden.
Until a few months ago,
When standing in a movie ticket line
I saw the face of my father
On a man that stood there
Looking like and
Holding himself like and
Moving Just like
My father.
Grabbing my sister's arm
I started to panic.
She too saw the resemblance.
And while we stood there, wordlessly
Wishing and
Hoping and
Trying not to cry out to him...
Tears stung our eyes and our hearts wept.
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Comments: 56
In the ten years since my dad passed, I've often seen men who look like him, and they are always walking away from me with their hands in their pockets. They walk just the same, comb their hair the same... Haunting, isn't it? You have my sympathy as well as my "10." *smile*
and trying not to think about it cuz it makes me so sad to imagine...
On a man that stood there
Looking like and
Holding himself like and
Moving Just like
My father.
The pauses at each end express so much...
Thank you so much for reading me.
Im not even sure where this came from today, except that the day in the movie line has been haunting me.
And today, this poem just seemed to suddenly pour out of me.
On Jill V.s piece about "do you believe in ghosts" last night I kind of argued with Joseph about whether or not ghosts can be real.
Today as I wrote this, I felt my father standing behind me with his hand on my shoulder. He may not have really been here, but certainly his hand was on my heart....t
Thank you so much for your understanding, kind words and for reading me today.
I am not sure why, but it felt important for me to share this with my friends.
Perhaps to show all of you that there is more to me, a me deeper than the carping or the erotica I write.
Thank you my friends...t
I'm relatively new to Gather and didn't know you wrote erotica or that you carp. What I do know is that this poem needed to be read.
My Dad will be gone a quarter century this holiday season, and on occasion, I STILL see him and hear his voice, often warning me of things that are not as they seem.
I wish I listened closer to him. ALWAYS.
I know your shock and pain, it has been my own. Only those who have lost a PARENT will know what we speak of. Loss is terrible yes but when it's one of those we called for scared in the night of our terror dreams, never able to come to oru aid again, it is magnified.
Peace.
And Jann, thank you for reading me.....t
Great poem. Very moving and heartfelt. I experienced something similar with a woman who resembled an aunt I was very close with.
still hold in your heart and hope to see again everyday. The poem was beautiful and I'm sure your father knows how you long to see him again.
Agreed Tomi, it was almost unbearable...suddenly I was raw with the feeling of his loss, as if it was fresh.
Thank you Kathleen.
Hi Cheryl...I think the reason this struck me so, is that while I thought I had accepted his death, when I saw that man, I was so quick to believe he was alive.
In fact, I had to accept the Truth. That he was gone from this earth.
I almost think I should have named this piece "The Day I Finally Believed My Father Was Gone"
Thank you all for taking the time to read me and comment....t
I know how you feel. How it is to be reminded. I think that it's a beautiful happening. It's a brief contact with someone that you love dearly.
It happens to me when I write. In my mind I see special people. I'm always thankful for the strange yet real contact.
Bless you Fred
a lovely poem !
Sometimes there is no comfort....t
Dar
Something similar happened to me in the same way. After my father had passed. I was in the grocery store shopping when I saw a man who looked just like my father, dressed and wearing a wicker hat walking just like him too.
I could have sworn it was my father, I followed him out the door, I couldn't stop nonchalantly peering at him. In my heart, I was calling out to him, "dad, dad, it's me, I am behind you!"
Mary that is exactly what happened to me. It was perhaps the oddest, most surreal moment of my life.
Thank you both for reading me....t
I had the exact same experience. I so related to this! It wasn't in a movie theatre line, but elsewhere.Sometimes my father comes to me in my dreams and his advice is always just what I need to hear but even more important is the momentary suspension of reality and the belief that he is there, really there, once again. I always feel sad, of course, when I wake up but also comforted.
I understand what you mean. Sometimes the people I have loved and lost are in my dreams. I am usually relating to one or two of the living members of my family, but all the while I can see my lost family member on the peripherals. At some point I realize they are the dead ones and want to talk to them. I move toward them but it's too late, I wake up once I remember they are gone. And always I am saddened and disapointed.
Thank you for reading me Jane, and for understanding....t
I would like to say sorry for taking a while to get to your article. I have been away from gather for a while and I am finally getting to the 3000 plus emails I have awaiting me on here to go through. so I am starting from the most recent received to the first I ever received.... So now I am finally able to read your piece. Thank you for sending me the link to this article.
Now second thing:
I am so sorry for the lost of your father, and I understand how much that hurt to see him in some one else. the way I look at it is some how he was trying to reach out to you and your sister and say he still watches out for you guys and will always be there for you two.
Thank you for reading me.
All the more shocking because we are unprepared for it when it occurs.
Now I’m dropping by to see ya
Thanks for sharing this with all of us here at gather.
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