I would have

---

I still see your hands, stained with oil and dust,

Turning wrenches, fixing things, building up the rust.

I sat in silence, watching close,

But I never learned the things I miss the most.

You’d hum old songs, half out of tune,

A cigarette burning in the afternoon.

You could fix anything with just your hands,

But I never learned how to be that kind of man.

---

I thought there’d be more time, more words to say,

Now I’m talking to the wind, hoping it carries your way.

---

These are the words I never said,

The lessons I wish I’d learned instead.

The questions left hanging in the air,

The moments I lost, the things I can’t repair.

---

You had this way of slowing time,

Soft-spoken patience when I’d lose my mind.

You’d wait through my storms, let the thunder die,

Never rushed the words, just met my eyes.

I wish I’d told you just once or twice,

You were my anchor, my peace, my light.

Maybe you knew, maybe you saw,

But damn, I wish I’d said it all.

---

If I could reach across the years,

Through all the silence, through all the tears…

I’d tell you, Dad, I should’ve asked,

To show me how to make things last.

And Skylyn, I’d take your hand,

Say- “You were more than you'll ever understand.”

---

These are the words I never said,

The lessons I wish I’d learned instead.

--

But maybe somehow, you already knew,

Maybe love speaks without words, too.

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