9/6/25

the man read the words his son had left.

his heart heavy, and his soul bereft.

but in his son's lines, he saw the light.

a softer flame that cuts the night.

he walked his world with bloodstained hands,

a lawman lost in a lawless land.

he fought to keep the dark at bay,

yet his son had to show him the way.

the man forgot himself, who he had been,

buried down beneath wrath and sin.

but then a voice, calm and clear,

had reached through and drew him near.

he remembers now, truly he do.

the day they walked; only them and the view.

no threats, no guns, just open skies,

and hope gleaming inside his little boy's eyes.

his son had led, though they walked side by side,

led him to something more than "just survive."

a world rebuilt, where love can grow.

his son saw it, and made it so.

and though his son's gone now, the light remains,

being the man's steady fire during loss and pain.

and when the man's new world is through,

he'll build it up again, just like his son taught him to.