For Her Husband Poem by Kondwelani Tembo Nguluwe

Dad,

I wonder what you would
have wanted me to become

A pilot
flying across the globe?
Or a doctor
right close to home?
I wonder...

Would you have dictated
every decision I made?
Would you have regretted
the indecisions I held?

I wonder what you would
have wanted me to become

Would you have beheld
my career choices?
Would you have bewailed
my life so voiceless?

I wonder what you would
have wanted me to become

All I have ever heard
is what you didn't want us to be
Things that you had
yourself struggled with

But that does
not explain
It neither is
in the least bit plain
To me

I wonder what you would
have wanted me to become

I wonder if you would
be proud of the man

I have become,


Your Son.