— a little chat with the wisest man I’ll ever know —

I met him today…

the wisest old man
I have ever known

sat with him
for thirty minutes… maybe more

and I talked—

about childhood
about laughter
about us

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

I told him
about the brickyard days

dust in the air
and joy in our bones

about Christmas—

the first one I remember

I was four

and Santa brought a train set

and for a moment…

the world

was perfect

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

I reminded him

of his smile

that quiet laugh
that never needed to be loud
to be heard

and then…

I told the truth

about the things
I got wrong

the times I wasn’t there

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

Because I was a soldier…

with a job to do

that’s what I told myself

but somewhere between duty
and distance

we lost time

missed moments

whole pieces
of each other’s lives

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

I spoke of trees

how we felled them
with axe and bow saw

how we drove fence posts
into stubborn earth

I was only five

but it felt like heaven

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

And the donkey—

God… the donkey

always escaping

wandering Carlton Hill

and that poor policeman
bringing him back

again…
and again…

and me—

laughing

because somehow

he was always looking for me

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

Standhill Road Infants…

that was my school

that was my world

and for a moment

I was back there

small
carefree
whole

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

I laughed…

until the laughter

broke

into tears

just a little

just enough

to remind me

I’m still human

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

I wiped them away

a little embarrassed

I don’t cry…

not really

but this—

this was different

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

And then I told him

how sorry I was

for the day he went away

how I wanted—

needed—

to be there

to say goodbye

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

I told him

I wish we had one more game of chess

even if we forgot the rules

even if we hadn’t played in years

just one more moment

across the board

with him

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

And before I left…

I made him a promise

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

I will visit

often

now I know where you are

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

not in houses

not in places

but here—

in the quiet corners
of my heart

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

because you may be gone

from this world

but never

from me

… ℒ 🪶 𝒥 …

— Paul Baldry (LongJohn)

Written after my dad’s passing, this poem captures a quiet, imagined conversation at his graveside. It’s a moment of reflection, regret, laughter, and love—where memories resurface and words left unsaid finally find their voice. In the stillness, I speak to him not with perfection, but with honesty, holding onto the bond that time and loss could never truly take away.

#SpokenWordPoetry #GriefAndLove #InMemory #PoetryOfLoss #FatherAndSon #HealingThroughWords #LifeReflections #PoetryCommunity