Five Years

It has been five long, leaderless years,
Since you left those you loved,
Yet those you loved will always remember,
Those you loved will never forget...

I pay another visit to the home of the dead,
Dusk is setting in the sky,
Rain is falling lightly to the ground,
Silence provides a space to think...

With every visit to this place of solitude,
It becomes easier to accept the headstone,
But the questions burn as fiercely as ever,
The wondering will never cease...

Life has had to be taken one step at a time,
Without your guile to guide me,
I have stumbled on more than one occasion,
Stumbled but never fallen...

Stumbled but never stopped completely,
As that was never in your mentality,
You took your knocks and kept moving forward,
As quitting to you was never an option...

That is one trait I'm proud to say,
I have inherited from you Big Man,
Five years may have passed since you left,
But that trait hasn't left me or my brethren...

As time can't wash away such a thing...
Nor can it wash away our love of you, Big Man.