Poetry Contest Winners :: Eighteenth Contest :: Second Place Winner

Burning Twilight (For My Father)

As a burning twilight settles over the hills
I am suddenly haunted by the memory
of our last phone conversation.
If I had known it was to be the last
I would have tried to tell you

everything/anything
all that you meant to me.

With such stern power over my life
it never occurred to me that you could go,
or that Death even knew where to find you.

It amazes and haunts me even now, years later
as I'm left wondering how I've been true to you —
am I everything you hoped I would be?

I wish you could know these days and these hours
and this life I've created.
How I've dreamed of you
sitting with my son
and having a conversation about the man he has become.

If there was a way to reach through this burning twilight
I would take your hand and lead us to that place of my dreams
and for just one more night
you would know

everything/anything
all that you meant to me.