There’s another man in my shadow.
I live the present with the past.
I never had the chance to meet you.
I was born at a time when death was due.
We never crossed paths,
Yet I walk the echoes of your past.
Your name is my middle one,
Given to me after the last breath.
A shadow lingers behind me
Of a man I never met.
At my grandparents house,
There’s pictures of you.
My grandad always says
How similar I am to you,
While my Nana says nothing.
I walked in a corner shop,
Near your old home,
The woman asked if I knew you.
She said she grew up with you
And I was the spitting image of you.
I have your humour, your personality,
Even the way my hair flows
Carries memories of you.
She told me stories from that time
And about the man you were.
Sometimes I think we’d jokingly fight,
But other times I wish I had the chance,
Had the opportunity to see you,
And meet the man I never knew.