In my mind
My father’s face
Is as young as I remember it
When I was nine or ten

But in reality, it’s older now
More wrinkles
Red cheeks and nose
Visible veins

I didn’t realize until
I look at photo albums

At a family reunion
With his dad (my grandpa)
Who turned eighty yesterday

And see photos of my dad
When he was really young
And had blonde highlights in his hair
And smiled in all the photos

I wonder if my grandpa’s face
Is as young in my dad’s mind
As my dad’s is in mine

And what it will be like
When my dad’s as old
As my grandpa is now

I wonder how my dad feels
About my grandpa getting closer
To dying

It occurs to me only now
As I write this
That I should ask him
And leave nothing unsaid

July 15, 2021 at 06:34PM

P.S. This should be prose, not poetry.