open eyes

summer

heat pressing against exposed skin

small hands, holding big fingers

a small sundress, simple shoes

skipping, smiling

silly and free

i walk down the path

with my eyes closed

shut

feeling the way with my feet

kicking the stones as i go

trying to navigate my way home

until i almost walk

into a lamp post

my father shakes his head,

spins me around to see his face

“you must never walk

with your eyes closed

it is dangerous

you cannot see where to go”

i try not to walk

with my eyes closed

read all the information

i can get my hands on

keep them open, wide

absorbing, observing

because closed eyes

are not so different

from a closed mind

i try to learn

allow myself opportunity

get to know community

so that when one foot

moves forward

the next knows

where it needs to follow

and when i approach

his grave, my father

gone since twenty-eight

an unpredictable and unfair fate

i know that here, i can sit

here, i close my eyes

knowledge is not something

i just find

fluttered shut

and cemented with tears

i learn

i grow

i face my fears

he is near

i know it

when i learn

i feel his fingers

in my hand

the kindest man.

12:55pm - 25/02/26