Boy in the Frame

A faded photograph
And a lifetime nearly passed
But the words I find still don't seem quite right
For my brother's epitaph

Every waking day of these 80 years
I have missed the boy in the frame
I would give him half of my 90 years
Just to meet the man he'd have made

Mummy shut me out
She never spoke his name aloud
I saw my Daddy cry, no one told me why
Till his bones were in the ground

Every waking day of these 80 years
I have missed the boy in the frame
I would give him half of my 90 years
Just to meet the man he'd have made

My days are nearly through
It's been good to talk with you
And I speak his name, will you do the same
When my bones are buried too?

Every waking day of these 80 years
I have missed the boy in the frame
I would give him half of my 90 years
Just to meet the man he'd have made
Just to meet the man he'd have made