Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash

Strong

He was always there: often
misunderstood and mostly loved.
He grew old before my eyes;
I found it hard to let him go.
Strong. He was so strong —
not too strong; but he could diffuse
the ticking time bomb resident
within an angry man’s chest.
He would calm and soothe until
he made a friend. And in the end
when the darkness came for him
we sat with him and sang his song
while he gently took the villain’s
hand and quietly floated away.

To support the poet’s benign coffee addiction: Coffee.