The Father Who Never Was

Where do you place the sorrow

for something that didn't happen

There's no vessel for things

that should have happened

but weren't allowed to

Where does the longing

for the tiny fingers

wrapped tightly around yours

that never will

belong to

What box is the absence

of the finest angel strands of hair

brushing against your lips

archived to

A child-shaped space

forever trapped inside the heart

The memories you never made

dreams you never fulfilled

the lives you never lived

There's no name

for the father's pain,

for the loss and longing of

all the should-have-been

all the would-have-been

and all the could-have-been

#fatherwhoneverwas