Dear Grandpa,
I know you're going through a hard time right now.
They're saying you only have a week left.
Is it true?
Can you hear me?
Stay strong, live...
I need you.
They say only a couple days now.
I can't believe them, it seems so wrong.
Please sit up. Please tell me you're okay.
You can't leave, not now.
They tell me there are only a few hours left.
It's time to say good-bye.
Time to let go of your hand.
How can I do that to you?
You never let go of me.
You left last night.
They took you away soon after.
I don't know where you are now.
How could you go?

It is midnight and all I can't think about is you.
I can't think about all of the memories we might have had.
I can't think about the love we could have made.
I can't remember the day I kissed you for the first time as my wife.
I can't feel your warm embrace as your arms envelop my neck.
I can't imagine a life with you.
You were my rock,
anchoring me below the surf as I fought to breathe.
Deep gulps of water made it clear to me that I was drowning in your problems.
"I love you" isn't worth drowning for.

When I was a boy, all I wanted was to be a man.
The teachers told me,
My parents told me,
I told myself
All I ever wanted was to be a man.
Now I am nineteen, and a man.
All that time trying,
striving,
for manhood.
Now I want it all back...