Father's Fears Poem by Basim Alansari

How fragile a child appears
in a hospital room, 
when his small hand reaches for yours
as though your touch alone
could hold the world together.
…
Our love for our children
exists beyond language.
One may keep a diary of the day, 
record each passing hour, 
every word uttered, 
every action taken, 
every tear restrained, 
every prayer whispered in silence; 
yet nothing can truly capture
what a parent feels.
…
Fear has its own heartbeat.
It sits quietly beside you
in waiting rooms filled with silence, 
counting minutes
as though they were years.
…
Today reminded me of my father's words
to a historian documenting his life
at the State Library of New South Wales.
"We may recall the moments and their details.
We may explain the events
and the suffering that followed.
But no one can fully understand
the emotions endured.
No one can capture a moment
in its true magnitude."
…
The moment you lose someone you love.
The moment you watch a friend
dragged toward an unknown fate.
The moment you are stripped
of choice, of control, of power.
…
And perhaps parenthood carries
a quiet echo of all these moments; 
because when your child suffers, 
even briefly, 
your heart enters a place
where reason no longer speaks.
Yet children carry a courage
we often forget.
…
This morning Hadi smiled at me
with complete trust, 
as if hospitals were nothing more
than another place to visit, 
as if pain were temporary
and love permanent.
…
And I realised then
that fear does not belong to children
the way it belongs to fathers.
A child walks forward innocently, 
while a parent stands behind
imagining every possible loss.
…
So I write these words
not to preserve the details of this day, 
but to remember what fear truly is: 
loving someone so deeply
that even a simple operation
can shake the foundations of your soul.
……