Ruth Guest

You would have been almost fourteen now
You would have been full of adolescent hormones
You would have probably been angry, petulant, sulky

Would you have played football, rugby or computer games
Would you have been a ballet dancer or played guitar
Would you have been a bookworm, a cyclist, a scientist

Who would you have look liked most, him or me
What colour would your hair, your eyes have been
What music would you have listened to relentlessly

Who would you have been my love
You should have been here.
Someone I would have loved, protected, fought for

But what would have been - never was.
I hoped and prayed and tried and begged
But there was no one listening for me

I would have given my right arm and probably my left
I would have chewed apple skin and cabbage every single day
(And I really really hate the taste of apple skin and cabbage)
If someone would have bargained with me
I would have given anything

You would have been thirteen, eleven months now
I would have been the reason you sighed and rolled your eyes
I would have been there every day for the rest of my life
for every day of yours
I would have been.