Father Dear Poem by Edwina Reizer

What have you left me, father dear?
You left me all you did revere.

The love of music that filled each day
and took the place of childhood play.
The love of books from which you read
that gave me words to fill my head.
The compassion for people who were not like we
that became our friends, which left for me
a respect for all of humanity.

What more could you leave?
What more did I need?
Only the thing that makes the heart bleed,
Your presence.