Ghosts

I was raised by two men

who I've never met.

Their absence

made them ever more prominent

in my life than their live counterparts.

I did not know

this until this very moment.

Their ghosts raised me.

Bestowed upon me

are the unlived fantasies

and unseen dreams.

The sin of the parent

is to fail movement

due to cowardice.

A violation

of the honor of parenthood.

Do these phantoms haunt only I?

Does the cohort arrive at the same conclusion?

I suspect ne'er a thought is held for them.

Can one release a legacy

Or is it bound to you from birth?