READY TO TALK
Hello father it's only me
The time has finally come to speak free
A talk we should have had before you died
Bitterly I recall how often you tried
Youthful arrogance is an impenetrable wall
Hiding behind it you know it all
I was blind, oblivious to your fears
The words you uttered fell on deaf ears
I am now at the age that you were then
The age you left this world of men
I now see what you were all about
As you vainly tried to reach out
And only now can I feel your pain
As I go over your words in my mind again
Words of advice you thought I should receive
Knowledge that you so desperately wanted to leave
And how lonely you must have been
When you could no longer speak
Cancer riddled lungs that could hold no air
I ask dear god how was that fair
But dearest dad let me assure you
That deep down I did not ignore you
The words you told me
Have never left me
And it is my turn now
I have to impart my thoughts somehow
To my children as you did then
And it is no easier now than it was then
Now I am on the other side of the wall
And I also am not so tall
To get my message through to them
Their silence seems my words to condemn
But I know from my own experience
That most of my words will have resonance
I am sure that deep down they will have heard
Will have taken in my every word
Every generation blames the one before
For the ills of their lives and something more
But you faced the challenges of your time
And I am battling my way through mine
And the cycle of life will take one more turn
Imperceptibly we unconsciously learn
And your words will live on
Through your grandchildren though you've long gone
Your life and thoughts will have had an impact
We are all living witnesses to that
We are here to testify you really did once live
And you gave all that you could give
And early on this father's day
While I am alone with my thoughts and you
Though I often did not acknowledge it to you
Let me tell you that at all times I respected you
And this respect carries on in our family still
Coming from the respect that you helped instill
All my children have rung up to say
That they wish me happy father's day
A simple thought a simple message
A simple acknowledgement that
I'm relevant in their lives
And I am happy on this father's day
And that's all we parents ever really want
The greatest present of all
That we matter in our children's lives
And they remember that we lived our lives for them
So happy father's day my dad
Though flawed you were the best father I could have had
And when I'm gone and my soul is set free
I hope my children think the same about me
And that will be
My final testament to you.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
A refined poetic imagination, Samuel aragone. You may like to read my poem, Love And Iust. Thank you.