ALL THE WAY DOWN THE LINE
by @donall-dempsey
ALL THE WAY DOWN THE LINE
Yes, I have forgotten
you
are dead
and turn to you:
"Did you see that?"
But Death has stolen
your eyes.
So you see
nothing.
Bits and pieces of you
vanishing day by day
as if you are being
erased.
I still cling onto
your smile.
Death
isn't having that.
And I am still
in possession of your voice.
It's tone
the slant of it
the heft of a syllable
a last few remaining phrases.
I still talk to you.
Ask your opinion.
"The red or the blue?"
Your ghost smiles
plays along with the charade.
I hear you say
( in my voice )
as if sound could be
forged
this counterfeit you.
"Oh the red...the red all the time
all the way down the line!"
***
How the presence of a loved one can still exist in the everyday...mingling with the moments of your own life. We are big Man Utd fans and one day when they were playing Chelsea he pretended we didn't know who was who and playfully posed the question....the red or the blue...to which there could only be one answer...."Oh the red...the red all the time all the way down the line!"