End Up

You spoke words often
spoken before, don’t end up
like me, darling.

If I could cradle your face
in my hand, perhaps
I could bear those words.

As it is, there was a time,
when I said to you,
Father, today I learned

the word empathy,
and how it is different
from sympathy.

You had a lesson then too,
don’t grab and clutch
for a dream that is over.

Maybe it wasn’t
until you said it
out loud.