Claude J. Whitehead
In Loving Memory
Sergeant U.S.Marine Corps
3rd Marine Battalion, Pacific Theatre
World War II
1920-1986
My best friend died today.
I don't ever expect to understand why
For at least ten years
or more.
If understanding should
Swoop down on me
In the guise of a bird,
I don't expect to accept his death
For at least a lifetime.
Even if acceptance came like
A bolt of lightening,
I don't expect to quit missing him
Until the end of time.
I love you, Daddy.
23 January 1986
II
It's been eleven years and
The only thing I understand
Is that I miss you daily.
I talk to you as I drive my car.
Sometimes I reach for the phone
to call you....
But I don't know the area code.
I am forced to accept
your death.
But I will always rage against
The injustice
Of little girls losing their Daddies.
4 April 1997
At any given time
Over the past twenty-three years
I could say
I have never missed you more
Than I do right now.
It would be true
In every single instance.
There are days
When I can't imagine
How I will make it through
Without a hug,
A smile or a wink.
I am betrayed
By those I trusted,
Ridiculed by those I love,
And abandoned
By almost everyone else.
I would give almost anything
To have one more day
But then, I know
That one day would never
Be quite enough.
7 July 2009