I’ve grown to understand that proximity is the key to affection.
That distance can be the antagonist of true love, yet
ironic that your love stretched continents.
A love everlasting.
You taught us how to bear silver shields 
and forge the sharpest swords from our traumas.

I miss the way your heart sang in a language
the purity of your spirit helped translate. 

I am the best qualities of you and my father,
but realize that I am not omitted from your faults. 
So many questions left unanswered–
crutched with the inability to travel backward.

‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎I battle with regret.

I acknowledge my naivete to the significance of time, 
shaking hands with peace, I’ve discovered 
what it means to Laugh in Eternal Sunshine.
Understanding that depression is a prison, not a choice,
and anguish is an emotion that requires release
within the magnitude of our despondencies. 

by. Philip G. Steverson