The Palace

I have built a Palace,

Not of mortar or of brick,

Its walls extend forever and

Its floors reflect my face.

The ceilings never ending,

Clear cloudless blue skies above,

Through windows in my memory,

Imaginings well abound,

The fiction mixes with the facts and

Fantasies abound.

Yet, I can see my father,

Though physically he has passed,

He speaks to me,

I hear his voice and,

I smile within myself.

The Palace is built of memories,

Of the time I had him with me,

Yet in the abyss of my mind,

It’s as if he never left me.

I hear him speak each time I talk,

My voice is his not mine.

He gave it to me the day I was born,

In my safekeeping he taught me,

My quest to pass it on,

To my own sons and daughters,

His legacy not mine.

He took the time to teach me all,

His life secrets,

Zest and zeal for better things, and

Above all love for him,

My life,

My family, and

An Indestructible Palace.

Built of his memory,

Stronger than stone.

Ó 2003 Robert Hullender