Creative Riters Challenge #84 - Dad

I phoned my dad on father’s day

How are you dad, are things O.K.

Just the same, just the same

And what about you?

What can I say, so I am fine 

I know he cannot walk so well

The years are going by

At the age of ninety-seven

The body becomes more a burden than a help

Perhaps he remembers when I was small

I think he might, but he would never say

We are both growing older

We both forget

We have other problems now 

I have no photos in my father’s arms

Àlthough he did push the pram

The mother cared for the baby

A dad worked 

To bring home the money to pay for everything

A five year war had finished

Europe was in ruins 

There was no time to take it easy

Watching the baby grow

There were other things to do

So dad would take me for walks on Sunday morning

While mum was cooking lunch

We went to the local Sunday morning flea market

Buying old records, buying comics for me

Days I will never forget

Going on holiday once a year

Burying dad in the sand on the beach

Having my first swimming lessons with dad

Other moments I will not forget

I left home for another country 

Not so far, but far enough

Then dad was on his own, getting older

But he understood

And today we are still apart

I speak to my dad during the week by phone

I see him once a year

He never had the time to watch me as a baby

And now he is just the same, just the same