Poem: September 15, 2019

Scheduling Conflict

I keep missing you because
you are on a different schedule,
every other week home, and even
then, you work nights and get in
long after I am in bed, and I
am up at four-thirty, and out
the door well before you ever
wake up, so I keep missing you.

I keep missing you because
you are away at college and
becoming who you are and
thinking about different things
than I am thinking about, looking
up and out while I look in and
down, and it's easy to forget to ask
after you when you are out of town,
and therefore, I keep missing you.

I keep missing you because
you seem to be busier than you
ever were before, out in the world
with your new friends and a dozen
after school activities that eat into
the evening like your FaceTime
conversations behind closed doors, and
homework, of course, which you know
how to do, so I keep missing you.

I keep missing you because
we are both very important and
successful and the things we do cross
one another less and less frequently,
and pull us away from the house, so
that when you have a meeting, I have
a conference, and so I hear about your
good work in passing and often from
others, while I keep missing you.