Ready To Talk - Happy Fathers Day Poem by samuel aragone

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.