.
I guess with death, a father’s wish is a simple one –
To believe it’s an easy, painless one, because
What is a father to do with the lifelong memory
Of hearing the shrieks, the cries and pleading
Begging in tones to “Take it away”; to “Make it stop”;
To “Help me; help me; help me…”
And so, for a father to live through the death of a son
And have these thoughts his constant companion
To his own end is too cruel to imagine, and, naturally,
