Your drawn face says all

I needed to know;

you desired to accompany me

on my journey

but I left you, back there,

with my childhood toys

and memories, an attic space –

four walls you will have

to become accustomed to.

It echoes too, with all you

did and should have taught me.

There are frames

hung haphazardly,

depicting the milestones

and your absence,

the empty space

where you should have been,

then, instead now,

after I have learnt how to love

all on my own.

I am sorry I left you back there

but I am afraid, it is where

you belong.

---

Written for Susan M. Conway’s 100 Days of Writing Prompts: ‘I am sorry I left you back there.’

Photograph & poem: © Kristiana Reed 2019

Between the Trees UK

Between the Trees US

Available internationally