The Breakfast HE Left Behind

This poem presents a personal reflection of a child caring for his father, a retired man who assumed dual roles as both father and mother after the loss of his wife, remaining devoted to his child until the end of his life. His death from cardiac complications was preceded by a pinched nerve and gastric problems. Grounded in the daily ritual of going to the market to prepare breakfast for his child, the poem traces the reversal of caregiving roles when the father falls ill. It also explores how unspoken love continues to be expressed through small acts of care until those acts come to an end with death.