I remember when the kids were young and I was their favorite person
I'd read their favorite bedtime stories
and did every voice
the way they loved it
sang them songs until their eyes slid sleepily closed and their hand slowly let go
I don't remember the last day it happened
the last day I held that place in their lives and their hearts
I blinked and it was gone
my heart aches with the pain of it
how do I hold on and let go at the same time?
you need to be who you are now
but who am I apart from you?