it feels different and familiar
each time around
seasons pass like lifetimes
every day like a family reunion
new sun rays and old moon shine
we’ve been here so many times before
but it’s never been like this

i found a letter that you wrote to me
in a drawer in my old room
i put on my high school football jacket
and started singing a song from 1997
i used to write you poems
and listen to your mix tape
every night before bed
the first track was “the weight”

i pulled into nazareth was feelin bout half past dead

i can see my sister’s smile
in my niece’s wide blue eyes
i hear my father’s laugh in mine
the distance between is bridged
over years and years
of hopes and fears
troubled tears and tribulations
everybody’s cries aren’t heard
still the information gets passed on
in genes not for runways
and trendy shopping malls
but to carry the torch
and there is a fire in my soul
and i can feel it burning in yours

you don’t realize how special you are