Having a Good Father

How lucky to have had so good a father! On us his warm, unstinting sun long shone. We were, of his hardworking life, the center, Loved for the pure joy of love alone. Uncanny are the requisites of pleasure, Coming as they do within the will. Knowing well where lay his greatest treasure, Years on years of love he labored still.

HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU I CAN’T SAY   

How much I love you I can't say: It's more than words can hold. You're all at once my rich, red clay, My potter and my mold.  Yours the words that shaped my voice, The spirit within mine. Yours the will that shaped my choice, My fortune, and my sign.  How lucky I was to have had you At the core of me! Wise and good, you always knew Just what I could be.  And so I came to be someone Whom I could be proud of. For this I give my swollen sum Of gratitude and love. 

I DO NOT SEE YOU OFTEN   

I do not see you often, but I see you every day. I've taken you along with me As I have grown away.  

We talk about the things that fill A life with love and pain, But our timeless golden time, Unspoken, still remains.  You will always be my dad, And I, your darling daughter. The days may turn like waterwheels, But that will never change.  The thought of you will make me glad No matter where I wander. You are the place that cannot feel Uncanny, dark, or strange.

I WAIT UPON THE LOVE THAT WAITS FOR ME   

I wait upon the love that waits for me Unknowing as I grow within the womb, The creature of an unheard harmony Between the voices of my dawn and doom. Half of me is you: how strange! Yet more Uncanny is the fact that we are two. I live within a room whose only door For good or ill must open onto you. Be there for me, father, in your heart, As I for you will be the child you will. Play with all your love the father's part, And I will with my love your dreams fulfill. I will rebel, of course, but pay no mind: Years of love will stand against the wind.

MY LOVE FOR YOU IS HUNGRY AS THE SEA   

My love for you is hungry as the sea: As turbulent, as tidal, as forlorn; As deep with unrequited mystery; As elemental, vast, and tempest-torn. No mountain is more awesome and enduring; No moon so full of passion for the light; No garden more forbidden or alluring; No watchman more acquainted with the night. I've learned such love leaves me with little pleasure, Nor does it die from lack of recompense. It is from birth a precious, haunted treasure, Long buried just beyond my innocence. It is a treasure I now offer you: That you are loved regardless what you do.

PERHAPS WE’LL NEVER UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER   

Perhaps we'll never understand each other. Loving doesn't mean that we agree. If that were so, then I would say, why bother? But there are things I know I'll never see. I'm sure your heart knows what I don't yet know: The pain of loving a reluctant son; The anger, coming fast and building slow, Of being helpless to control someone. You want only that I grow up right, But you know what right is, and I still don't. I have to learn to wield my inner light, And if I follow yours, well, then I won't. I'm sorry for the anger in the air; Though we fight, my love is always there.

THE THINGS YOU TAUGHT ME I WILL ALWAYS KNOW   

The things you taught me I will always know. How could I not? The roots have sunk so deep: All lessons of the heart that I will keep No matter who I am or where I go. Kids learn from what their parents are, and so You are my book of life, the thoughts I reap; Only in your arms I quiet sleep; Under my words your voice sings soft and slow. From you I learned the rules of right and wrong Against which I at times had to rebel, Though with regret I carry with me still. How lucky I am to have been loved so well, Even as I pushed against your will, Relying on a father fair and strong.

THOUGH NEW AT FATHERHOOD   

Though new at fatherhood, you're surely not A novice at the art of giving love. With quiet tact you find the perfect spot Among the needs of those whose hearts you move. I never feel you slight me, even though At times your time for me of need is slight. Though working long and hard, you seem to know Just how to make our son feel loved each night. These gifts you give I know cannot come easy, Although they seem to flow so easily. You have a lovely air that's light and breezy, That says: I get from you more than you see. And so I am in awe of what you do; You love so well that I love you well, too.

TO MY DADS ON FATHER’S DAY   

To my dads on Father's Day, On both of whom we both depend: My daughter reinvents my themes. Years pass, and well-wrought love remains. Dads are saviors, straight or gay, Always where our oceans end, Deliverers of desperate dreams, Solid land where sunshine reigns.

TO THE FATHER OF MY CHILDREN   

To the father of my children: Open up your willing heart! Take what music I can give you, Hearing, too, my silent song. Even as, arrayed in passion, Finding love, I play my part, A wonder like a wind whips through me, Truth unknown for which I long. How beautiful, this unspent yearning, Ever for the darkness burning, Rising like a summer storm!

YOU ARE OUR KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR   

You are our knight in shining armor, Pilgrim of our plea, The Atlas for our wounded world, Our rescuer at sea.  You are the pillar of our hopes, The deep bass of our song, The strength that underlies our strength, The calm for which we long.  You came into our house of dreams And turned it into truth, Entering at just the point Where yearning shatters youth.  What could motivate someone To bear another's load But that most beautiful of lights, The inner lamp of love. 

YOU TAUGHT ME HOW TO LOVE YOU   

You taught me how to love you by The way that you loved me; And by your unseen sustenance, To see what you could see.   You gave to me through who you were The gift of what I am. Your pride in me is now my pride; Your faith, my caravan.  Your life does not conclude with death, Nor will it end with mine, For all the lives I touch, you touch, And so on through all time. 

YOU’VE BEEN EVERYTHING TO ME  

You've been everything to me: a father, Teacher, playmate, model, conscience, friend. Sometimes I'm not certain why you bother, If your feelings on my words depend. I know I haven't been the child I should: Far from it, and I really can't say why. I know exactly what I'd label good, But in the real world something goes awry. Underneath my actions there is love, Gratitude, respect, and admiration. Sometimes I don't know what I'm thinking of, But I thank God you're in for the duration. I'm sorry, sorry for the things I do, But please believe I cherish Mom and you.