How could I word it,
so you won't buckle
under the pressure
of the moment
and not reveal anything?

Even though,
words were cycling
through your skull,
and you were just
2.5 seconds in the clear,
so ready to elaborate
on just what you
were thinking.

I am quite certain,
it pertained to the
depth and the nature
of the one who has gone
whose figure flocks the
sky
who exists entirely
in the mind's eye
when we sit down
in the church pews
and restore our
thoughts
our feelings to God

Sometimes,
praying is not enough
Sometimes,
I wish you would thaw out
and let sallow, pearly tears
sting your vision
and fall in the cracks and crevices
marring your weathered cheek bones

Sometimes,
I wish you would
tell me about
growing up
instead of expecting
me to glean
some sort of story
from the lone
black and white
portrait of you
with sausage curls
flocking your walls

But more than anything,
I wish you would break down
submit to the storm raging inside you
and discuss Grandpa.