You Were Taking Your Time

You were taking your time,  you said,
 Cradling my first-born baby's head,
 Taking it nice and slow,
 "There is such a long way to go "
 You were keeping your distance,
 Hoping to win us with your persistence,

 And you were not in it for the short haul,
 Taking the long view over all,
Not stepping on my wife's toes,
 But wearing her shoes, donning her clothes,
 Imagining yourself in her skin
 Measuring out the space that she had to be in,
 
You were cautious because of the past,
 And the chasm created, deep and vast,
 And the rift that seemed to have healed,
 Sewn up in ripping baby squeal,
You knew empathetically,  what to do,
 Space and love would come shining through,

 And so you were taking and biding your time,
 Never quite placing your hand in mine,
 That would come further down the road,
 Love pending,  awaiting download,
 Five per cent of it slowly processed,
 Ninety-five per cent, never possessed,
 
There were no comics, nor walks in the park,
 There were no late night cuddles, to squeeze out the dark,
You said You were taking your time, when time was taking you,
 If you only had known, you'd have thrown off restraint, and resistance too,

 You would have gathered us all to your chest,
 And our last years together would have been blessed,
 With memories of unchained and unedited love,
 But sadly, when push came to shove,
 While time was taking you, you were taking your time,
 And it took away, along with it, potential memory's of mine,

 Memories of knowing you with my son,
 Two years shared and barely a one,
You were taking your time
 Whilst time was taking both yours and mine.