Fathers

“Father and Son” by Heidi Malott

we push and we pull
help and hurt
love and scold
the tender stern
facets of fathers

our fortes and foibles
contributing somehow
some something
to character forming
right under our eyes

ineluctable impact
we make on the child
no matter how present
or absent engaged
or aloof we may be

we hold awesome
stark power of blunt
reproductive creation
whose consequence
bears our own image

the future derives
from the choices we
make here and now as
expectant small fingers
reach up for our hand

Wistful

“Sandbox” by Elena Salnikova

 

 

overgrown sandbox

retains barefoot echoes of

yesteryear laughter

 

Vieni Qua

“The Prodigal” by LEC

come here he would say
when I misbehaved badly
with hurt in his eyes
he’d gently explain why he
knew I was better than that

Maturity

“Hard Working Man”
Painting by Vincent Van Gogh

I have no scars from my childhood
all my wounds came later in life

still young enough to remember
lessons learned from my parents

while old enough to regret
all the times I ignored them

ready finally to change
to become the man

mama and papa could see
from the distance of time

Paternity

 

“The Birth of the Idea” by Nina Mitkova

 

 

push the stone from the path
one less obstacle facing your issue
descendants conceived of the mind
clear the passage of conscience
lessen the ordeal of birthing
that infant ideas emerge realized
in follow of footsteps you pressed
upon soils you claimed as your own
give them freedom of movement
to grow beyond reach of your shadow
come into their own striking out
in directions untried by experience
finding their cogent maturity
handsomely featured resembling
your lineage values yet fully unique
bearing fresh lines of thought
shaping futures they newly imagine

here is a robust conceptual legacy
mark it and fill up your brain with
an unvarnished pride that the children
your intellect fathered now venture
forth making bold maps of discovery
adding new wealth to the rational
cache of man’s cognitive treasury

 

 

From my book Small Noise

Questions

“Abandoned Teddy Bear”
Digital Art
From wallcoo.net

by what sudden caprice
might the robin
abandon its eggs

how do women abort
generations inchoate
their promise annulled

how do men walk away
from their children
in droves of indifference

what discharge of social
catastrophe weeps
from the calluses
horning our hearts

are we lost of creation
for spurning our nature
to nurture our young

is humanity cheapened
of purpose our presence
unworthy in family
of all living things

Nature or Nurture

DNA Helix
Illustration from pennlive.com

The well behaved child
Is a parent’s fond dream
But the ones who run wild
Incite tempers to steam

The argument goes
Is it nature or nurture?
Confounding psych pros
And the bioresearcher

I’m merely a layman
Who makes humble claim
If the kid is a daemon
The parents share blame

But the question is still
Not answered for sure
Genes don’t shape free will
When they give geniture

No matter what tramples
Through genomes recessed
Inspiring examples
Serve character best

Small Request

Photo by Getty Images
From telegraph.co.uk

children ask little
beyond dependable love
give of it freely
it’s never material
it’s always a heart thing

Doing the Math

Illustration from “Zero Sum Game Theory”
Article in encyclopedia.com

thirty-five years of
airports and taxies
patched hotel room calls to
part-time paternity
still sag my spirits
with weight of regret
still burn doubts into
my accolades haunting
my sleepless reflections
on zero-sum theory

Coloring Innocence

Photo by Shutterstock Images
At photo-dictionary.com

how does a child view this world
does she see only colors she’s learned
or the whole shocking spectrum
of concatenation
we adults disarranged
with deliberate malice

does she recognize dark shades of war
in our black-and-blue purples
with subtle distinctions
of just war from unjust
of mercy from weakness

can she appreciate bright hues of love
in our radiant yellows
with gradient edges
eros blurred into agapē
storge into philia

how can we train her young eyes
will she learn only colors we see
or the whole lovely spectrum
beyond limitations
imposed by the ignorance
stalking our ill-matured guilt

she deserves more than blindness
to true colors we never perceived
she needs better than our
impaired vision as guide
perhaps we should give her a
palette to mix her own paints