The Man Who Was Daddy (Poetry)

Tall in memory
I remember as a child remembers
looking up
always a little fearful
anticipating a rebuke
‘Not now, not now!’
a brushing away of nuisance
but ever-hopeful of a smile
some small acknowledgement
my company pleased him

In my younger years
I must have worried at his tolerance
risked the casual rejection
of a busy god
with a needy worshipper
all too often underfoot
When adolescence came
I found another focus — turned
my back on old beliefs
our blood estranged

Now new insights prompt
at restoration of a kind
the circle’s closed and Death forgives
all frailty
My baby eyes once full of God
now see the man
for who he was
yet while I’m here some remnant
of that faith still lives
a light left on in the dark
                                        for Daddy