Sometimes I Hear Your Voice

In the middle of singing one of my favorite songs

I can hear you singing along with me

It makes me stop

Pause

Listen a little harder

Sometimes I turn and look for you

When I am listening to a message

I can hear you as though you are speaking

Holding the mic again

Teaching like you loved to do

Speaking

Not just to the audience but to me

Sometimes I move my face closer to the screen

When I am at work

Cleaning the racks

Picking clothes off the floor

On my way up I see glasses

Brown skin kissed just right by the Son

And I see the smile you wore

Like your favorite necklace

Through bad times and in good

That smile never left your face

Sometimes I stop myself from saying..."Hey mommy!"

I make my throat dry

I think of the things that hurt

Playing patty cake with a cactus

Riding a bike with opened toed shoes

Needing to make an emergency stop

My toe connecting with the ground so fast

So hard my insides spew on the ground

Red like the pain hidden in my eyes

Sometimes I close my eyes and open them

Quicker and quicker each time

I lay down and pull the covers over my head

As though retreating into my shell

Slowly popping my head up

Unable to stand the heat from underneath

The covers over my emotions

Hoping you'll be in the next room

To console me and tell me it will be alright

Sometimes I hear your voice

And I try not to cry

I see you from time to time

Or what I think is you

I pass ladies who resemble you

They have their hair the same

From the last I remember

Short and curly

Close to your face

You never liked it long

Sometimes I hear your voice

And I stop

Wherever I may be

Pause

Canvas the scene

Of where I saw you last

Laying in a bed that didn't belong to you

In a room that was not yours

Sheets that didn't look as comfortable

As the ones on the bed at home

In a place whose walls were bare

There seemed to be no heat

It was very cold

You

Were very cold

I heard His voice

Then… it was necessary