Things I should have said

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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.

---

Sky 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.

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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.(Make things last)

---

And Skylyn,

I’d take your hand,

Say-

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