It was autumn, a shiny day like today
It was not the last day, but the last day I remember you clearly.
We were walking to the Parade Grounds
I had on a new jacket.
My hands, like yours were in the pockets,
Thumbs looped over the edges.
You told me not to do that, that Mommy didn't like it when I did
Things that weren't ladylike.
I took my hands out of the pockets.
I still looked like you.
We walked alike. We had the same gait
A funny half-step, step.
When I would get new shoes with leather soles
I would love to hear that sound on the pavement
Clippety-clop, clippety-clop
I'm a big girl.
Early in the morning at home while I was still in bed
I'd hear you.
Your slippers, clippety-clop in the hall.
I felt safe.
When you died, I could still hear them.
I waited to see you turn the corner, to see
If it was some mistake, that you
Weren't really gone.
Now that I am older than you were
When you died, I catch myself listening
For your footsteps in the hall
But they are my own.
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