The Weight You Carried From The Start, My Friend... Poem by Frank Bana

At Genesis we sang, learned to hold hands
And then abandoned one, the other too
Disappearing through the world, men strange and new

Unable to express the loss, to sing or cough
Or even to admit the weight
We carried down the road, inside a common soul

That space, that place of emptiness
To which some part within us fell, since we let go
The grip we held when juvenile and brave

We would not give it voice, to comfort
And assist, that it was both of us who bore
The weight and felt the loss the same

We could not ask, what kind of love, my friend,
Among loves manifold, are we?
What love is worthy of our name, what place

In you is that cold corner where I lay?
Will you once lift a hand to find
And touch the place in me?

When we were teens, I kissed your future wife
And now thirty years on, it's late, as you
Might say, to make a fuss of life

And I've been scared, I've never dared
To push on your home gate
To ask if you remember where

We put these heavy things, and if
They can be disinterred
To celebrate our love again.

To England I returned, and watched the birds
Above you, as you hauled the weight of all
The expectation and uniqueness of your soul

Your back and talents hurt like hell.
My weight is less, don't be afraid, I'll bring
My new creations lightly to your side.


(For D.P.)