Can I Take Your Name?

Can I take your name
And wrap it round my soul?
Can I lift it from the photograph,
And weave it with my own?

Your earthly time was over,
Before mine  had begun,
Our paths,  this time, didn’t cross
As we orbited  the sun.

Can I take your name and wear it
Like a silent tight embrace?
Your steady arm to guide my hand, 
The smile of love on your face. 

To your son and then my dad 
Your gentleness bestowed,
And now your image calls to me
As I walk this writer’s road. 

So can I take your name,  great grandad,
And use it with my own?
Harness your strength when doubt creeps in, 
When I walk this writer’s road alone.