Father

You had shadows beneath sunshine,
always a jigsaw mystery,
off to meet a deadline,
with little time for me.

As wintry flakes upon my tongue,
you were magical, elusive.
And girls don’t know, when young,
distance is abusive.

I sailed away on pirate ships;
I often need what I can’t keep,
to seek relationships,
that mostly made me weep.

In time, I thought we’d make amends,
but time in relativity,
announced we’d naught be friends,
then took you far from me.

I never understood, alas,
how quickly our lives pass.