Picture and poem: ‘The secret’

 

He smiles at me,
Holds me tight.
“Daddy I love you …”
He whispers.
“I love you,
love you …”
Is my reply.
And his fingers
Reach into my soul,
Press against my heart.
“I love you …
love you …”
Echoes in my heart.
I remember holding him
When he was born.
His hair was so curly,
His skin was so much darker
Than mine.
I knew then the secret,
I should have been angry,
So many words I did not say.
He was so innocent,
He was so small.
He needed someone,
He needed me.
“I love you …
Love you …”
Echoes in my mind.
I kiss him goodnight,
He closes his eyes
But not his smile.
I remember my own life,
Circles within circles,
Lifetimes return to haunt me.
I was born into a family
But not into a home.
I was abandoned to the faiths,
I was alone …
“I love you …
love you …”
Words I never heard.
I never knew my father,
I never knew my mom,
Only the pretension of family,
No ties of the blood
To remind me of my past …
“Daddy
Hold me
I’m scared.”
He knows me as father,
I know him as son,
The secret is never told,
And in our common past
We have become more than family,
We have become one.

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Works combined here have been used with permission. Illustration by (Twitter) @Kon3koArt. Poem is by George Mercado (Twitter: @bklynmercado). If you’d like to submit a picture or a poem for use in this way, please feel free to get in touch.