A Father Too (rp - my fathers day mantra)

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jwesley
Member Rara Avis

since 2000-04-30

Posts 7563
Spring, Texas

0 posted 2012-06-16 07:38 PM

Never had a dad -
at least, not after conception,
not one I remember anyway.
I've seen so many...
all my friends had them,
and they were all different.
Met a few I would have given the job to,
had they wanted it,
met some that would have seen me in the grave,
before I would have called them dad.
Never met one I'd have given my soul to though,
don't think I ever will, because
they weren't there when I opened my eyes
for the first time,
they weren't there when I needed their strength,
and kind of support only a dad can give.
They can't provide the bond,
only My Dad would have felt.

I've been a dad for a lot of years -
I raised my kids in the only way I knew how,
learning as I went,
providing them with the kind of support
that can only come from the heart,
because I didn't know what it took to be a dad.

I've paid the price of not knowing right from wrong,
of not being sensitive when maybe I should have been,
of not understanding relations the way I should,
of not giving, no matter what I thought or felt,
of trying to be something I never understood.

I never had a dad,
but I've been one for many years,
and can only pray
I was a Father too.

wesley james beard, jr.
© September 2001

JerryPat2
Member Laureate

since 2011-02-06

Posts 16975
South Louisiana

1 posted 2012-06-16 08:10 PM

An oldie, but a goodie. I have a feeling you did al right by your children. I hope I don't get one note or anything for Father's Day tomorrow, because I was NOT a good father. In fact I was the worst kind of father I could have been, I was not there for them.

~*~ If they give you lined paper, write sideways. ~*~

Startime1955
Senior Member

since 2012-04-22

Posts 1072
Alberta, Canada

2 posted 2012-06-16 09:00 PM

So very powerful...sometimes you can only do what you know and that is not always right...so we learn as we go and hope it works...*BIG HUGS*

*may our dreams ever be magical*

Alison

Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-27

Posts 9318
Lumpy oatmeal makes me crazy!

3 posted 2012-06-17 11:52 AM

Jimmy,

This reaches inside my heart. That's what poetry is all about.

Happy Father's Day.

xoxoxo
A

ebonygirl
Member Elite

since 2011-07-14

Posts 2000
California U.S.A

4 posted 2012-06-17 01:56 PM

Happy Father's Day Jim,
Touching poem, so enjoyed,
Ms. E

suthern

Member Seraphic

since 1999-07-29

Posts 20723
Louisiana

5 posted 2012-06-20 12:16 PM

I raised my kids in the only way I knew how,
learning as I went,
providing them with the kind of support
that can only come from the heart,
because I didn't know what it took to be a dad.

This is exactly the kind of dad I had. Daddy was barely 3 when his mother died and he became a child passed from relative to relative and wanted nowhere. He never had anyone to call Dad (his dad kept a couple of the older boys but was "Mr. Smith" to his youngest, my Daddy), anyone to be a dad figure - or even treat him as a child instead of another mouth to feed. But whatever examples he lacked, he had what it took.

I'm betting you do, too. *S*

Beautiful write!!

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