A Father's Love

We live in a world that has been shattered by greed
The tiny hands of a child outreached and always in need
A child knows nothing of the struggles we face
They know only the comfort of a loved ones's embrace.

So many of our children never know of those moments
alone, hungry, and cold..they wait alone in their torment.
No mother, no father, just adults living free
forgetting the future is their child in need.

So easy it is to become self absorbed
when all we can hear, is what we've been told
Only the brave will dare to speak out
to protect their child, and raise questions of doubt.

Our view of a father is a towering man.
Who brings home a check, rarely lending a hand.
So many young men are raised with this image
passed from father to son, corrupting our lineage.

Now today we face worse, men who just run away
leaving their child, duty abandoned, only to play.
In abundance we see them, day in, and day out
Their children alone, even love raises doubt.

But in the face of all the struggle and growing despair
there are those men who fight to protect, and always be there.
They raise their children to be strong men and women
through their strength and their love, a gift has been given.

that gift is bestowed, not just on their child,
It is a gift to the world, through a young smile.
For that smile is bred from knowledge and love
A father's gift to the world, is rising above.

A man's strength is not measured by how much he can lift
but in the weight he can carry, and not go adrift.
When he puts down the phone, and reschedules a meeting
Just to be at the game, or the door with a greeting.

The child never knows the sacrifice he has made
Not until they are grown, and places they trade.
He becomes not just "dad", but a man to be honored
When through the eyes of their child, now he is the father.

No place more revered than in such position
Debts are repaid in ways not dreamed to fruition
but through actions of love, and pure dedication
such a man is deserving of all admiration.

--Roberta Heart