The Boy Who Raised Me

I am older now, and so are you.
Time has its price — that is true.
In the beginning, I held you close,
Marvelously you, from nose to toes.

My baby boy with eyes so large,
Fear and worry to be in charge.
How can I ever truly worthy be,
And bridge a gap too wide for me?

Soft little hands, faith and trust —
No worry, no concern, no test.
At one, I got sick and lost a job,
Packing in the garage as I sob.

You danced to the music so free —
Just Darius Rucker, you, and me.
We moved back North together,
So young you wouldn’t remember.

It was winter, and the chapter dark,
But it was you who struck a spark.
We walked each day and talked,
A stroll past all the cars parked.

You heard it all — the pain and worry
During this season of melancholy.
Because of you, I went forth bravely,
With legs shaking and voice gravelly.

I found my footing, and so did you —
Walking, speaking, to name a few.
Your siblings’ lives a little different,
Since you taught me to be a parent.

To see you grow and become a man
Is to see that perhaps there is a plan.
I was hard on you — maybe too much —
With anger and fear, it was not just.

I pulled back before it was too late,
To make the choice to mitigate.
To see you is to see my own truth:
That I simply did not raise this youth.

You carried me as much as I did you,
To a softened heart and love more true.
Now a growing man with life to live,
I can to the world no better gift give —

No gift more precious, no greater sanctity
Than the boy who once raised me.

 

Nick Campos  June 2024