Dear Dad Poem by Carolyn Michael

Dear Dad,
I miss you.
But I’ve always missed you.
Things here are hard.
The part of my soul you lit is dark now,
and the world seems meaner without you.
Sometimes I pretend you live
in the bathroom of my dormitory,
and I say goodnight after I brush my teeth
and I turn the lights off.
I guess there’s just something divine
about the idea of you being two doors away,
especially at night when I can’t sleep
and don’t have anyone to talk to.
But I never really have anyone to talk to.
Not about you.
I mention you sometimes
but I’m usually too afraid to say
what I’m really thinking.
They wouldn’t understand anyway.
Nobody can understand what you meant to me,
And forcing it into words would shrink it.
The hardest part is that every bit of me
believes you’ll never hear me.
My only hope is that one day I’ll see you again
And I’ll hug you hard
And cry in your arms
And we'll pick up where we left off.
Love always,
Cara