Happy Fathers Day!

It is amazing how much sticks with you from childhood. I was asked if I always loved poetry and wrote it and instinctively I was prepared to say no. But it wasn't until my father had passed away a few years ago and I was given a little box filled with the years of poetry that I had shared with him, some of the great poets and others pieces that I had created. The letters, books and childhood pictures were a collection of my childhood, the building blocks of life. My father was a intelligent man with only a grade school education, but he read every book he good get his hands on. He had taught me many lessons, one being that knowledge was attainable through books. I had also come to realize that you step upon many a shore through a good book.
I can visualize him with those dark reading glasses, his head on a pillow and a book in his hands. I would sit beside him and he would tell me what he was reading and I would tell him what happened at school. We were a bit estranged from each other in my adult life. We both needed the healing space that only times provides. I learned so much from him in such a short period of time, lessons that would last a life time.

Happy Fathers Day Dad !

I couldn't wait to share my day, 
as we sat upon the porch and
watched the different birds
that migrated like the seasons
before.
 
He taught me the love for nature
and to hold on with faith, he
gave to me the lessons that
I hold dear to this very day,

There was the love for music,
the songs he dared to sing,
from childhood play songs
to his favorite western themes.

There were dances in the kitchen,
learning the basic box step and
wiping all those tear drops on
the days when life was a mess.

Something's weren't obvious
but I have them to this day,
the many gifts he gave to me
appear in very different ways.