Thirteen, a mere number, they say.
Thirteen spans a century’s sway,
Yet feel like seconds slipping away,
Your smile plays in my memory,
So does your loud laughter.
13 feels like forever
’cause your embrace seems estranged,
Yet when I think about it,
13 years seem like now,
I can feel you close,
Warm and cuddly.
13 feels like moments ago,
When last did I hear your voice through my mouthpiece ?
13 feels like this moment
‘Cause I can hear your soft whispers
I can feel your warm breath at the nape of my neck.
Out of touch yet in my grasp.
Thirteen years is more than a decade ago,
Yet it’s a few minutes before the school bus drops me off home,
Then I’ll be at the kitchen table,
Singing the songs I learned at school,
Then in less than thirty,
You’ll be whooping me for failing math.
Thirteen feels like then and now
We are in the kitchen preparing chicken for Christmas,
Suddenly, you are out of sight
And I am following through your simple recipes.
13 is far away,
The thought that you won’t cuddle my brood,
Is like a bad dream I have woken up to.
Thirteen feels like this very moment,
Thirteen also feels like years to come,
Because you are by my hospital bed,
Spitting saliva and blessing my newborn daughter ,
As she bears your name.
Yet in thirteen or fewer years she will ask me where her grandma is.
Thirteen is not just a mere number it seems,
I rub off my eyes to clear the cataracts
Stare at your resting shrine and plant a rose,
You are so far, yet so near.
© Priscillah Kimani
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