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
Copyright © 2015 by Shane McCrae. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on April 23, 2015, by the Academy of American Poets.
“Recently, my son moved to Texas with his mother. His most recent birthday was the first birthday we’ve spent apart.”
—Shane McCrae