You know me so well - a poem by Chris Zachariou

Portrait of a Sad Man

All I hear is your voice:
“Remember this, remember that...
what about this, what about that?”

and you drone on and on and on:
“Always a foot soldier, never a commander.”

“He never came to see you, did he?”
blah, blah, blah...

But perhaps you have a point here
“Why didn't you come to see me, daddy?”

Sometimes you say nothing—
silence, your cruellest ploy.
One look and I'm undone,
you torment me and you taunt me.

All the thoughts I tried so hard to banish—
all my fears and all my insecurities.

"Couldn't you have loved me just a little?"
and I cry for the child that was only seven.

When I say this is old news
—I pretend of course—you laugh.
How do you know me so well
am I you, are you me?

Be careful old friend, neither
of us may be here much longer.