Detroit- After the Storm

They Say you are My Dad

They say you are my dad
But how can you be
When you do not know me

You call me son
But who are you?

I do not know
Will not know
Can not know

Our lives are intertwined only by blood
As we know nothing of the other except the past
Your exit from me so unceremonious
So long ago

They say you are my dad
But how can you be
When you do not know me

Good memories of you,
Of us two
Are so few
So long ago that
They fade as a movie to black

Yet, there are no applause
No, to be continued…

They say you are my dad
But how can you be
When you do not know me

You call me son
But who are you?

I do not know
Will not know
Can not know

Sad memories once filled me, consumed me
Memories of promises not kept
Love not returned

Feelings that haunted me
Rejection
Hate
Sadness
Despair
Did I make Dad leave?

They say you are my dad
But how can you be
When you do not know me

Then God’s love made these feelings fade
They too faded to black
But to the sound of a chorus of Angels
Lifting my spirit high

They say you are my dad
But how can you be
When you do not know me

You call me son
But who are you?

I do not know
Will not know
Can not know

You see,
Dad is a term earned
A Dad is a father endeared
A father respected
This you can not be because
You don’t know me…

So here we are
Me a Dad
And you my father
I thank you though
Because you showed me the way
To be the Dad I am today
“How could this be?” you say

The example you set
Put me on a path
To make me my children’s dad
I will be an open book
Sharing my strengths and flaws
I will show them what you did not show me

I
Am
Dad

© 2008 Harvey M. Christian