To Sean, on his 25th birthday

[I wrote this in July but forgot to post it here then.]

You should be here in these times
To tell us what you’re thinking:
To show how your sweetness has developed
And your sharpness has increased.

You should be here in these times
To put your feet up and eat apple crumble,
And bring laughter and loudness
To this quiet house.

You should be here in these times
To sing a new song, or an old one:
‘Hot Asphalt’ with me in the pub,
As we planned to do but never did.

You should be here in these times
To see how things have changed, and haven’t—
To add to our pride in our children,
Which your sister has been constantly augmenting.

You should be here in these times
Because there’s still so much to learn,
And we all could teach each other
Like we used to in the old days.

You should be here in these times
Because no days are as good as those:
A river has been dammed for years;
You could let it flow, Sean.

You should be here in these times
To try a new cider, and support the underdog;
To help us calibrate this crazy world—
Memories can’t do these jobs.

You should be here in these times
So we might still be touched by
Tears you’d shed from time to time,
Out of caring so deeply.

You should be here in these times
Because what you had is needed,
And this is where we are now:
We miss you so badly.

You should be here in these times
To share in vast, amazing love
That can’t be put in words
And can’t be ignored.

You should be here in these times:
That’s how it seems to us—
But we hope you have found somewhere better,
Or somewhere just as good.