Is it something about the wind.
You left us so quickly daddy.
Only weeks after mom
fell into the cold sleep.
Now at the old house
I am clearing away all
the things you left here
remaining In our lives.
This task seems endless
But I am sitting quietly
in your old leather chair
the Times and your glasses
are still on the side table.
You were completing the crossword.
It is half done.
I start to finish it.
Almost feeling you there.
Telling me to use a pencil
to easily erase my incorrect answers.
Even though you always used a pen.

I am feeling vulnerable daddy
Like when I was a little girl.
I find my mind saying
Who will look after me now?
Who else will have the answers
to all my problems.?
The right answers you can
Write in ink not pencil.
It was always you daddy.
From being a child
You would raise me up in the air.
And say you have the world by the tail
my kitten.
Young smart and beautiful.
I don’t feel any of those things right now.
I just want you and the faint smell
Of your aromatic pipe tobacco.
And to hear your soft kind voice daddy.
I know you did not have much to leave.
But you left in me a joy and love
and the overwhelming privilege
of being your daughter.
I know since being older
I did not say this as much
as perhaps I should have.
Thank you for always being you
I love you Dad.