Fatherless Child Poem by Anne Marie V. Kennedy

Sometimes I feel
Like a fatherless child
Like a fatherless child
So far away from home

More times I feel
Like an unwanted child
Like an unwanted child
Never known

Often I feel
Like a forgotten child
Like a forsaken child
Skin and bone

Each day I feel
Like an dishonored child
Like a disowned child
Left alone

And each time I see
Or hear, smell, or taste
A gentle reminder of you
Dad, how it ails me
Dad, how it impales me
I knew not you were black and blue.

I think of you more
Than words can express
For you are ingrained in my bone
Your blood circles through me
Your heart will not leave me
No matter where they put the tissue.

You are not dead to me, my dear father
I know you like the inside of my palm
You knew not your own beauty
Or your own wisdom
Your glory rose with the dawn.

I am sorry you suffered
Sorry you hurt; so sorry you lived with regret
I am thankful you saw me, thankful you loved me
In that year I will never forget

The year you upheld me
The year you released me
From years and years of sadness

As the daughter you wanted
As the daughter you treasured
And whom from your heart never left

You still called me Sunshine
You still for my smile pined
You still made me both laugh and cry

That year before you died.