In the sparkling river, on a jagged rock
You held my timid hands and soothed my tired heart
Then lead me down the paths of my past
Unknowingly from the start
Gently guiding step by step
Quiet and without words
I recalled so many different times
The joyful and disturbed
The fall leaves crunched beneath our feet
I was ten all over again
My daddy walking in front of me
The beginning of the end
Time seemed to stand still
For me to reminisce
And at the perfect moments
You blessed it with a kiss
It was okay for me to remember
Okay for me to mourn
All the things that I’d been taught
Since the day that I was born
You brought me back to basics
Back to the innocent days
Days I had forgotten
The me that fell away
The ground beneath my feet
Strong man to keep me safe
Until the sting of ugly truth
Slapped me in the face
Pain I can’t reopen
Lie in the recesses of my mind
And we walked softly across the bridge of it
It being buried all the time
PB 10-14-08