PAD 30 the ending of something

The Boom

That Wednesday night when you went off to church

and you boomed bye in your big voice

I didn’t know that it would be the last time I heard it.

I still have you here now and for that I am grateful.

But I miss the voice that complete strangers

would come up to you at church

and say how they enjoyed hearing you sing,

and the blind lady would sit near you so she could hear it.

I miss the voice I deemed the best

in all the world, next to Neil Diamond’s.

I miss having to hush you

for fear of waking up the household.

I miss how hearing your voice

made me feel when I picked you out of the crowd

or when I knew where you were when I walked into a building

or in the middle of the night when you said my name.

Now, you take a breath

for each phrase

so I can hear your whisper.

I miss the boom.