HEY, DAD!
Virginia Salter

I hugged your knees
And looked up high
I  saw how great you were
Then you knelt down
And picked me up
Your voice in ear did purr.
~~~
We’d stroll the street
While friends we’d greet
I’d see your buckle glisten,
We’d wind our way
Throughout the day
And to each word I’d listen.
~~~
One day astride your vest
Where all your hugs were best
With age your voice had mellowed,
To show I’d come unto my own
Into my shoes I’d grown
My response, to you, I bellowed.
~~~
Then gray within your hair,
Yet no change in spirit there,
Though shoulders in a stoop
Seeing, now, more eye to eye
With less each day o’er which to vie
I’d come to you to get the scoop.
~~~
copyright June 1998