My Father Once Did Ask Me Poem by Colin Breck Boardman

My father once did ask me:
'Son, What do you want to be
When you grow up to be a man?
And perhaps as only a child can,
I replied: 'I want to be a poet'
With no notion how to do it,
(Not really knowing, by my own admission,
If it was a job or a strange condition) .
And though my father's smile remained,
A dark shadow seemed ingrained
Upon his then worried brow,
And with wise words he told me how
He once had dreams that he'd let go,
(A fate that I had yet to know) .
'It is hard to live just writing rhyme,
Don't worry son, you still have time'.
And so my life took its many twists
As we all must do as Life insists,
Sacrificing hopes to fears,
Saying goodbye to people dear;
Even my father has paid his coin,
To cross the Styx to Hades,
Yet still his child's heart is joined
Where a poet's joy and shade is.