What My Father Taught Me About Love Poem by gerard rochford

I knew but never heard you say the word,
although you may have whispered it in the night.

So was it the day you looked up from your digging
and nodded at me? Did those arms I saw at work
once hold me, did those blue eyes look down?
There are no photos.

Or was it the day I came with my wife and children
and when we left I thought you were nearly in tears.

It seems you taught me love without the words
and with my sons I took my father's path,
followed them with my eyes, silently, almost in tears.