Another fine day
At this place called Coffin Bay -
Oysters for lunch? Yes!
Brian Matthews 7-11-23
A chopper above
An expensive tourist treat -
Worth the view, maybe
Brian Matthews 7-11-23
And the poem revisited is one I wrote for my son Sam’s 37th birthday before we knew of his cancer. An undertone is of regretting the distance between us as a result of growing older – ironic, I thought, when I was soon to lose him completely.
It is revisited because there was a line that didn’t make sense – probably an autocorrect thing:
Sam’s 37
The birthday of a son,
No longer a child
And not so for many years,
Brings cause to pause
Reflect on what he’s become.
A husband and father
Of two chips off the block
As are all little ones
Drawing on genetic memory
Aided by the experiences they gather.
The curiosity of the child
Morphing into enthusiasm of youth
Facing the challenges of the day
Exploring and contributing
Soon leaving behind the wild.
A child never leaves the heart
Of a parent invested in
The happiness of their offspring
Knowing not what the future brings
But sure that you will be apart.
Life cannot be lived through children
Or grandchildren for a fact
Evolve and develop they surely will
Moving in directions unseen
With motivation from you hidden.
Not because they rail against you,
Though that can be a thing
But more because they need agency,
Different hills and valleys to explore,
So they can have their novel view.
Brian Matthews
21/11/2020
Brian’s Reflections 