A daughter’s smile
A daughter’s smile
Mirrored in her own child
The shape of her head
A wisp of hair
Caught in the wind
Flying a kite
His wife
An image in a photograph
The way she looked
On their wedding day
It was spiritual
Whatever else is a godless
Man left to say
The flicker of light
From a candle
Reflecting more
Than the glow in her eyes
The hand on his arm
At the funeral
When a troubled son died
They were a force
Together
The joy at the birth
Of a grandchild
The pain
When she took
To her bed
The tears
When the prognosis
Was bleak
The dread
Of before and after
Her death
Oh how he wished
He could still hear her speak
More than the words
On a recording
These are some of the things
He remembered
What would happen
To him if he forgot
He was memory
Nothing more
Nothing less
Without his past
To recall
He was nobody at all
He must not
Just never
Forget.