I had one
only one
He was the one,
The one to teach me how to walk
Help me learn how to talk
Help my mom teach me to read
How to exist in a world not quite ready for someone like me
I only had one
Only one
The one
The one who read me to sleep at night
The one who worried about when I stopped eating regularly
The one
He was the one that impressed my favorite teacher in high school
He was the one that picked me up on the street after I didn’t go home after a half day of school in 7th grade, but instead hung out with friends smoking cigarettes and loitering
He was the one that took me with him to auctions to buy the shit my mother fussed about
The one that took me to Busch Gardens because I wanted to see it
The one that took the family on a summer vacation cruise when I was 9
He was the one
My only one
He was the one that made sure we went to the auto show every year
It was him that made sure that we got our special annual addition black Barbie dolls at Christmas time
He was the one that wanted to make history in our home town with the city’s only black hair salon
He was the one
He was the one that played his music so loud and so often I knew every Luther, O’Jays, and Temptations song ever played on the radio
It was him that laughed at my goofiness as a child
It was him that picked me up in the grocery store after I blacked out, and held on to me so tight afraid that I was going to fall again that neither of us could walk
It was him that thought when I was for help on my homework hurt myself and came running to make sure I was okay
It was him that danced with me at the African Festival Downtown
It was him that made sure we patronized downtown every chance we could
African World Festival
UniverSoul Circus
Detroit Food Festival
That was him
He was the one I didn’t want to disappoint when I got suspended from school for smoking
He was the one I didn’t want to upset when I got suspended from school for tardies
He was the one I didn’t want to know that every night I prayed to God to take me away from the pain
He was the one
my only one
I lost the only one
When I lost my one
I lost a future
I lost the man to walk me down the aisle
I lost my child knowing my one
I lost a part of myself
I lost the only one
My one
@Phire Free 2011
