Thirteen years
younger than me,
and I’m remembering
a little chubby face boy.

Sweet little kid,
I missed
most of his
life.

Not mine
but still
I can feel
the loss.

We are impermanent
passing this firmament,
but I did not expect to
outlive this younger dude.

Last time I saw him
was maybe nine or ten
years ago.
Man, he had grown.

Now he memorialized
on stone,
leaving his mother alone
to raise her grandchild.

Adrift in the dust,
I know that it must
come to pass.

Cause soon enough
that will be all of us,
but that logic
doesn’t make it easier
to appease the fear
of grief to come.