The Shoots

Nicholas turned     eleven two

Months he ago a he ago

I after him a-running still

But quietly and far away


For the first time turned     far away

Without me or     without that day

Me seeing him on all the bright-

ness gone     the day     the snow had gone


Completely gone     as we have gone

Who were the worlds we walked     far down

Into our lives without each oth-

er as     snow into earth as water


Goes into earth     and as the water

Touches the roots the dry roots wait for

A signal from the sun and air

And do not green the shoots     and what


The water thought it was and what

I thought I was we learn we’re not we’re

Life but not always life and not

Forever     he grows without his father
 

Credit

Copyright © 2015 by Shane McCrae. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on April 23, 2015, by the Academy of American Poets. 

About this Poem

“Recently, my son moved to Texas with his mother. His most recent birthday was the first birthday we’ve spent apart.”
Shane McCrae