“Black and White: In Memory of Hayden Potter” by John RC Potter
family photo
My favorite photo of you,
now and before you left us,
is the one of you standing
in a doorway, leaning casually;
A black-and-white photo
of a handsome young man
with his life ahead of him.
But that was taken from you
before your time.
Or was it your time?
For the rest of my life,
you will forever be standing in
that distant doorway:
Waiting for something, or someone.
First, you lost your mother, far too young.
Then you were given up for dead
after a horrible car accident;
But you climbed and clawed your
way back into the world, toward
the flickering light.
Your life was never the same, but
you never complained.
A survivor, and yet, for too few years.
Those years flashed by in a blink of an eye.
Only a quarter of a century
you were given, then
you were taken in your sleep,
like your mother before you.
Our world is not black and white.
The years ahead will be long and wide
whilst you are close by on the other side
of the vast unknown and the great divide.
Originally published in Empyrean Magazine
Copyright © 2026 John RC Potter
All Rights Reserved
#brother #death #love #memories