An hour with you

If I could spend an hour with you,

The time would be too short.

My questions all are overdue,

And the answers have come to nought.

I’d want to hug you tighter than tight,

My heart would be fit to burst.

I’d stare at you with all my might,

Whatever would I say to you first?

I think I’d start to cry,

The breath would stop in my chest,

Knowing that I must try

To make this hour the best.

I’d touch your face with a finger,

I’d kiss you on the cheek,

Smoothing your eyebrows, I’d linger

And then, I think I’d speak.

I would take your hand in mine,

And tell you that I’m Okay,

That my new normal is sort of fine,

And I’m making it through each day.

I’d tell you how greatly I miss you,

And beg for you to stay,

I’d say how deeply I love you,

And could you find a way –

To talk to me from the other side,

To ease my broken heart,

And make it like you never died,

And we’re not so far apart.

When the time would come, and you had to go,

I’d cry out: James! Don’t leave!

And tears from my eyes would start to flow,

And I’d bow my head to grieve.

James Nicholas Rodger 

28 July 1997 – 2 May 2010. 

Died at the age of 12 at Paradise pools, Arcadia dam, Bindura. Zimbabwe. His Mother, Ruth Rodger, has been receiving bereavement counselling from Val Maasdorp of Island Hospice and Healthcare Harare.

Find out more about Island Hospice and Healthcare on their website, follow IslandHospiceZW on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and donate to support their important work via Global Giving: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/island-hospice-and-healthcare/