Far Away

Far Away

I turn to take your hand,
To show you the leaves of fall
To ask you what you think,
But you’re not there at all.

I turn to see you smile,
To look with me at the sky
To see the stars in the velvet blackness,
But you are nowhere by.

I turn to talk to you,
To show you what I see
To share and laugh and whisper,
But you’re not here with me.

I turn just to look at you,
To gaze proudly at your face
To absorb your life and energy,
But you’re not in this place.

It makes me sad you’re so far away,
But it makes me happy, too
Although I want you here with me,
This time is my gift to you.

For we really are together,
Across distance, throughout time
Where you go, and when you go
Your heart is linked to mine.

Mother’s Note: In searching through things that Tara left behind I found this poem. I had not forgotten that I had written it, but had lost the original copy and did not remember it all.
The summer before Tara’s freshman year in high school she had the opportunity to travel to Syria and study for a semester. Though it was difficult to let her leave me, I wanted my baby to see something of the world and believed this to be the chance of a lifetime. And it was- she did things and saw places and met people that most of us do not ever experience. But back home, I missed my baby and worried about her. I lived for the once a week phone calls that went on that 6 months.
This poem is from a scrapbook I put together and sent to her. The scrapbook had pictures of her friends and family from home and notes from us all. When I found the poem this morning, it took on a different meaning for me. Though some of the sentiment has altered- most is the same today as it was when I wrote this for her.