More Than Just Memories Poem by David Whalen

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Parents:

They got smaller as one grew older.
They never truly existed as
Those giant creatures we remember.
They cease to be mere points in time.
They reacquire personalities unrealized by us.
Personalities that were rich and full
And consisted more of reality
Than of our imagined memories…
They become as lonely (and elusive)
In one's mind: as if seen receding
In the reflection of a rear view mirror.
They gain texture and color even as
They diminish in substance with
The eternal and relentless passage of time.
They too, argued and cried
And built sandcastles in their minds.
They too dreamed great dreams
And suffered sorrows
Grand and small. And then we…
Became them