I find myself

thinking of them again

and again

it happens so often

I hear them speaking

every off-hand remark

every small act

reminds me of them

what they would do

or say

in little sound bites

they repeat themselves

it is automatic in my mind

a common occurrence

I hear them talking

as if they had never left

they are still with me

retelling their stories

giving their advice

their opinions

imprinted on my memory

it is as if they never left

as if they were beside me

inside me

living inside my head

forever in my consciousness

I am the sum of their lives

they are the source of

my existence

voices from my childhood

voices from the past

my comfort in hard times.