Watching You Watch The Past Poem by Not Long Left

Unlike the oak tree you age daily,
No two hudred years of death
for you to fade away with.
Day by day you become a little
more transparent I see how sharp
your bones have become.
Your eyes sparkle but they are
too often dimmed by the dust of time.
Your eterntiy ring rests against your
heaving chest, no longer can it circle
your now wrinkled thin fingers.
Many mornings have you smiled
Many clumps of soil have you thrown
into the deep dark hole.

where do you go when your eyes
drift to the window and a smile
spreads across your ancient face.
Are you skimming stones across
the Thames, or playing hide and seek
amongst the bombed out homes.
Are you seeing Grandad fling himself
from the van then fling himself into
your arms, Back from foreign soil.
Are you holding me for the very first time.

Your ciggarette placed so perfectly
between your fingers, long untouched.
It hisses with inpatience.
I can see when you return to the this
world a short shiver and a sigh
Yet unlike the oak tree you can remember
every leaf that falls.