Let me still be your child

Let me still be your child.
Just once more. A single time.
Then I’ll let you go.
But for once, make me feel safe again.

Protect me from the world.
Let me sleep on the back seat of your car, behind your seat.
I want you to be my driver just once more, father.
And you to put on the music you like,
because that’s the music I’ll like when I grow up.

Let me be small.
You think about me.
You decide for me.
Let me wear once again your jacket,
which seems away too big to me,
the one you gave me to wear when I was cold.

Take me by the arm and carry me to bed after I fell asleep on the couch.
Tell me fairy tales.
If you’re tired, don’t tell me, but please don’t run away.

I want to be your child forever.
I want you to hug me tightly,
just like you always hugged me when a goal was scored.
I want you to sleep for a week straight in the chair,
as you slept next to me when I was in the hospital.

Calm down.
Raise your head.
I know that for every man comes the moment
when he must become his father’s Father,
but I don’t want to.
I don’t want to now.

I want to see you as a giant and not as a small bird.
Don’t run, father!
Please!
Let me still be your child once more.
Let me be a child forever.

Written by Gabriele Corsi
Translated by Ndrek Gjini