A Good Father Poem by David Welch

Harper Lukowski paced down the sidewalk,
the day was done, he was on his way home.
His fried Jaquan, twenty years his junior,
chattered with him as the two did go.

They both worked at a nearby factory
manufacturing high quality knives,
the best in the land, if you ask Harper,
as a craftsman he did his work with pride.

Things were going very good that fall day,
management had just hired on twenty more,
a president who had kept to his word,
Harper had never seen that before

As he came up to his small, suburban home
he spotted his son kicking back on a chair,
asked, "So how did the job search go today? "
Said his son, "There is no need to despair.

"I'm having trouble finding work I like,
I want to enjoy it when I make my pay.
Rather than rush, I signed up for welfare,
and I just got my first check in today."

Harper went quiet at the young man's words,
and said, "Have you gone and lost your mind?
If you even think of cashing that check
then you are no longer a son of mine."

His son Ted then froze, there on that spot,
a surprised look etched deeply on his face,
Harper continued, "Never did I think
you would fall so easily into disgrace.

"You think that check can do no real harm,
but I have seen the effects of the dole,
your own grandfather lived off of hand-outs,
he died a drunk, only forty years old.

"And every day I walk to my job
I see the wreckage of people on the street,
mad at the world, helpless and cruel,
devoid of the slightest dignity.

"Is that how you wish to spend you hole life,
as a dog on the government's chain?
Voting for whoever throws you more cash,
regardless of the evils in their brains?

"Have the schools polluted your mind so much
that you can't see any job has honor?
Will you live like a leach, draining the cash
that's been built by the hard work of others?

"If you value your freedom and your manhood
you'll destroy that small and unearned check,
and if you don't then you can kiss goodbye
all your dignity and self-respect."

Ted's mouth hung open at this diatribe,
even Jaquan looked utterly stunned.
Ted crumpled the check and slinked away,
Jaquan said, "You were real hard on your son."

Harper said, "I'd no choice, I had to be,
to save Ted from staring down a bad path.
We see what happens to men who won't work,
rarely do they ever come back from that.

"I love that boy more than any will know,
but to be a father I can't be his friend.
My job is to prepare him for this world,
and steer his from any sorry ends.

"If I succeed, and he supports himself,
he has a fighting chance at a good life;
a home and some kids, money in the bank,
to take care of himself and any wife.

"Ted will never live a life he enjoys
if he's leaching off another man's wealth.
If I could stop that, but instead failed to act,
I don't think I could ever forgive myself."

When he heard the words, Jaquan's face went sad,
he said, "I think there's some place I should be."
He moved quickly away, Harper knew why,
see Jaquan had a one-year old baby.

He was not wed to the child's mother,
though he still sometimes visited her bed.
The reality of being a dad
had not quite sunken into his head.

As he disappeared, Harper look upwards,
said, "Lord, I know that I sounded harsh.
But please let then hear at least some of my words,
because both have goodness in their hearts."

With that he felt a fatigue born of time,
and greatly wish to sit and bleed stress out,
so he climbed the stoop, up to the front door,
and disappeared inside of the house.