Looking out at nothing

When your firstborn leaves home
it leaves a large hole
for your heart to tumble right into,
the care of your hands, your eyes and your tongue
is too weak from the distance between you,
left unused and with nothing to cling to,
I’m useless.

When your firstborn leaves home
it makes you feel proud
and you can’t talk about him enough,
what he is, where he lives, what he’s earning and why
helps to hide that you’re feeling so rough,
just not touching him really is tough,
I’m speechless.

When your firstborn leaves home
is there ever a minute
when he wonders what you must be thinking,
or is he too busy, too tied up, too driven
like you were to stop everything sinking,
just one view without ever blinking,
I was foolish.

© Graham Sherwood 2006