Another

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.