How do you remember a child you never see,
who denies you, and decades pass.
We get older together far apart
our memories age, get entangled
turn conceptual and get mixed up.

What do you look like now,
and how do I, to you?
We’ve no real knowing of the other,
beyond blind love and hate,
and the blood line sameness,
the small shared dialog is missing
of friends gained and lost, the silly things,
the foods we like, the bars we go to,
sailing skying, the foreign explorations
all of this, our mutual interests,
exchanged sadness and happiness
telling of hurts and victories,
all this, over decades, are missing,
so the fading memory of our pith and moment
have but thinned, sterile content
all sentiment and stick figures.

This disease of alienation
running in our families
does close in sadly
when the final meeting is silent
and death ends separation.