A Poem for Father's Day

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WombatWoman

Diamond Member
Feb 19, 2000
5,439
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A few people have asked me if I would write a Father's Day poem, and I have done so. The result may not please everyone. It isn't the sort of thing that comes from Hallmark; it is the sort of thing that comes from me, and that's all I can give right now.

This was not easy; my father died nearly eleven years ago, and my relationship with him was stormy, at best. I hope he knew a few things that I wasn't able to tell him. And if he did not know those things then, may God allow him to know them now.

This is for you, Arch Robert MacKay...

...and for other fathers whose love may be hard to earn, yet impossible to forget.

SOME FATHERS

Some fathers have a roughness,
Their faces hewn from boulders,
Some cultivate a gruffness
And a daunting shrug of shoulders.

Some fathers frown like thunder
Though their souls are soft as rain,
They wear their hearts tucked under
A protective sheet of pain.

Some fathers never speak of love
And yet love still leaks through;
The kindnesses not spoken of
Are just as real and true.

You speak with every lawn you mow
And every time that you say "no."
However much you wish to hide,
I'll always hear the love inside.

Some fathers never say that much,
But some love speaks through toil;
Sometimes the hand you want to touch
Is begrimed with motor oil.

~Jean MacKay Jackson
 
kranky

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,014
137
106
Thanks, WW, it's exactly the type of poem that someone could give their father when they can't find the words to say how they feel face-to-face. I'm sure it will be used as your Mother's Day contribution was.

This is the first year I won't be seeing my father as they have moved out of state. I'll call him but it won't be the same.

I'm sure your father knows that you love him. Otherwise it wouldn't be heaven, now, would it?
 
D

Dhawk

Senior member
Oct 9, 1999
817
0
0
A few people have asked me if I would write a Father's Day poem, and I have done so. The result may not please everyone. It isn't the sort of thing that comes from Hallmark; it is the sort of thing that comes from me, and that's all I can give right now.
Click to expand...

It may not please everyone, but it pleases me. It was very touching and hit home with me. I too, had a very stormy relationship with my dad. Even at 43 years old, I am trying to get up the nerve to call him and say "Happy Fathers Day".

WW thanks for being the wonderful, creative, you.
 
geno

geno

Lifer
Dec 26, 1999
25,074
4
0
Big thumbs up to that poem WW, great job :) It sounds sincere without being mushy ;) But it must've taken a lot for you to write that, given your situation with your father, but I know he would've appreciated seeing this from you :)

Marty:
LMAO, great link :D
 
C

camembert

Senior member
Oct 9, 1999
229
0
0
Thank you for sharing this unusual and moving poem.

I am going to tell my dad that I love him, even if he does get embarrassed. And I am going to try to remember to tell him that, even when it isn't Fathers Day.
 
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GingerSynapse

Senior member
Oct 9, 1999
335
0
0
My father loves me very much, but I don't remember him ever actually saying it in words.

This verse applies to a lot of dads, I think:

Some fathers frown like thunder
Though their souls are soft as rain,
They wear their hearts tucked under
A protective sheet of pain.


(WW, what does your sig mean?)
 
I

Isla

Elite member
Sep 12, 2000
7,749
2
0
Very nice, WW.

It always helps when you understand what your father's relationship was like with his own father...

In my case, my paternal grandfather was violent and abusive. When my dad was 8 years old, his father shot my grandmother in the head (she was trying to leave him) and then committed suicide. My grandmother lived, and it was surely a miracle because this was back in 1939. Seems my father's aunt, who my father was staying with for safety, felt something had gone wrong and discovered my grandmother near death.

The remaining men in my father's life were not much better... rough, barbarian types from the old country (literally) who saw my father as worthless because of his father's actions.

So, my dad has made the effort to be as good of a husband and father as he can be, given the circumstances. He's lived with a lot of pain and anger all his life and believe me, he has not been the easiest man to get along with. He has always put my mom and us kids first, though... and for that, I am eternally grateful.

Love and Peace to All~
 
Y

Yeeny

Lifer
Feb 2, 2000
10,848
2
0
My father was a wonderful man. He was crippled at the age of 2 by polio, and spent most of his first 13 years in a hospital, with his parents only able to see him through a glass pane on Sunday afternoons for an hour. My grandparents were irish immigrants, who came over with their parents to find a better life for themselves. My grandmother was an irish washwoman, and my grandfather a garbageman, and as poor as they were, they had to deal with their only son being crippled. But they never let him pity himself, and helped him learn to be a wonderful person. My grandmother died when my father was just 13, and my grandpa when he was 20, leaving him all alone in the world until he met my mom at the age of forty. They got married, and had me, and then my brother a few years later. Around that time, he was diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure, so he had to start watching every single thing he ate, on top of what already ailed him. But through it all, he always smiled, and never let any of it get him down. I could never have asked for a better father, even though his legs were wilted, and he used crutches his entire life to move around, he played volleyball with us, baseball, soccer (seeing him hit that ball with his crutch was always a sight :p) and always had time to talk to us about anything. He was strict, and we knew that we had to behave. But he also made it clear no matter what, he loved us, and we could come to him with anything.

He died when I was 14, of a heart attack, the loss devestated my entire family. Not just his kids, but his nieces and nephews too, he was so close to all of us. But even now, we find ourselves doing things that he taught us, and following his rules on certain things. You never know when that moment is going to come, and that person is no longer going to be there for you to tell them you love them. The smartest thing my dad ever taught me was to never ever leave angry, or go without telling the people you love how you feel every single day of your life. The morning he died, we had a fight. But right before I left for school, he reached his arms out to hug me, and told me he loved me, and I have been able to keep that with me for the last 14 years. That lesson is one I have tried to live by, and pass on to my children.

Happy Fathers day to all the dads out there, and to WombatWoman, thanks for the poem, its beautiful and so fitting.
 
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eleutheria

Senior member
Nov 1, 1999
579
0
0
Thanks, WombatWoman, that poem says so much about a certain kind of dad.

And thanks to Isla & GirlFriday for sharing stories about your fathers.

God bless our dads, without 'em we would be nothing. (Same applies to our moms too, of course.)
 
U

uncouth

Golden Member
Mar 23, 2000
1,707
1
0
sharing this unusual and moving poem
Click to expand...
wow to think that I read that "usual and unmoving"...

I find the line "Sometimes the hand you want to touch is begrimed with motor oil" to be particularly gut-renching. In the words of a different saint: "Message deep, this is!"
 
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Isla

Elite member
Sep 12, 2000
7,749
2
0
Hi back to you, GingerSynapse! (Not sure why you edited that... I would PM you if I could. I don't think it is thread crapping to be friendly, and if anyone tells you different I'll break their knees! :) )

/me also waves to GirlFriday... Thank you for sharing your story about your dad too, even though you made me cry, durn it!

And another kudos to WW... threads like these are always lovely and keep me peeking in from time to time.

~A bump for those who missed this earlier~
 
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eleutheria

Senior member
Nov 1, 1999
579
0
0
I'll boost this up for the night time crew here.

That poem really gets me, it is so simple and yet it has a lot of meaning under the surface.
 
O

Ornery

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
20,022
17
81
Thanks for all the bumps, I would have missed this otherwise!

Just got back from dinner with my dad. He's pretty hard to get along with, if you can't let some of his utterances slide... yep, I'm a chip off the ole' block! ;) He's still on the outs with a couple of my siblings, which is sad. He brought it on himself though, so I've learned from his mistakes. We've all inherited his quick to anger and mom's slow to forgive mentality. Great combo, eh?

Nice job, Jean. I think your poem speaks for more than a few people around here!
 
troglodytis

troglodytis

Golden Member
Nov 29, 2000
1,061
3
76
i reserve the emotion of hate for my father. none have earned it but him.

it keeps me warm. :)


thanks dad. you suck.
 
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