My Daddy
I attended the wake of a young man that I knew in the autumn of 2019. His parents, brothers, and his Partner and their young son were there beside the coffin. It was a very emotional tearful scene. However, the young child was peaceful and oblivious to what was going on around him. The scene of the child in his mother’s arms stayed with me and I wasn’t long out of the funeral parlour when the thoughts of writing a poem came on me. I don’t know where the content came from, I’d like to think it was some way conveyed from the child to me to deliver the message to the loved ones that were left behind and hopefully bring them some solace and consolement.
My daddy is gone to heaven I don’t understand
It must be very far away in another land.
Mammy cries a lot now she cries from night till morn
Her tears are not like the tears she shed when I was born.
It’s difficult to understand and I can’t figure it out
For when I’m in my cot at night my daddy is about.
When I’m looking at the ceiling you think I’m smiling at thin air
But I’m smiling at my daddy for I can see him there.
He then looks in on mammy when she’s tucked up in her bed
But she can’t see him smiling with his smiley ginger head.
He wants everyone to know that heaven is not that bad
And he wishes that everyone wasn’t so sad.
So remember him with happiness and the good times that you had
And don’t be broken hearted and feeling so sad
Remember he’s not far away and he knows how much you cried
It’s just that you can’t see him there on the other side.
The world will keep on turning and although he’s not around
He’s watching over mam and me to keep us safe and sound.
I’ll grow up to be like daddy, sure I even have his name,
And it’s just like daddy’s, my name is Brian McGrane.