15/11/2023
In another universe,
I meet my father
when he is a child.
We play catch in the woods
and as we play he tells me
he isn't allowed to cry
but sometimes the world
hurts him and he doesn't know
what to do with all that pain.
So I give him the shoulder
he needs to cry on.
And he does. He does
until the tears are done.
Afterwards, I buy him ice cream
and I listen to his laugh,
the glowing warm laugh
of a child who knows he is safe.
I wish someone could
have done that for him.
Been a kind, safe place
for the child he used to be.
Would it have made a difference?
Would it have made a difference?
- Nikita Gill
