For A Son
by Rebecca Balcárcel

I am telling you
for the last time now
how it happened,
why we had to go,
what little we took with us,
what we brought back.
But what I want you
to remember is this:
we traveled three years,
Odysseus spent ten.
Christ took only days,
coming back with his identity whole,
known.
Your journey
will set its own time.
Length is not important.
And even if
you never return,
know that I understand
and will have joy.