greek verbs

god manfred, why?
i miss you still
i phone the birthday boy
turned thirty four
can you believe it?
grown now into a man
but still the sweet son
there, inside, untouched
vulnerable and protective
we talk, of greek verbs
and a celebratory
full scottish breakfast
i put the phone back
in the cradle by the window
my throat constricts
hot tears burn behind my eyelids
god manfred, why?
because he has no father
for me to pass the phone to
no dad to listen
with knowledge to the questions
that men must surely need
to share at times
or do the welling tears
betray my own aloneness


Copyright © 2009 by Eryll Oellermann