If Only

As you look at my name I wish you could hear me speak,

Or the tears running down my cheek.

You were so small when I went away,

But you were in my thoughts each and every day.

Your mother & I loved each other & from that love we had you,

You enriched our lives & made each day fresh & new.

There are so many things you’ve done that have made me mighty proud,

I wish things could have been different, if fate had allowed.

I saw the hurt in your eyes when your friends and their dads would play,

I sat with you that night wanting to make the hurt go away.

Your mom raised you alone; she did a fine job,

Please understand when she remembers me and quietly begins to sob.

I was hoping sooner or later that you would make it by,

Maybe then you would understand why I had to die.

I was fighting for a cause I really had no choice,

At times like this I wish you could hear my voice.

I hope you have felt my closeness over the years as you have grown,

I’ve bragged of you often to my buddies on this marbled stone.

You have shared your love with another; a child is on the way,

You have made my existence complete on this very special day.

Michael D. Monfrooe

2001