Papa don’t preach
I’ve managed forty years without you
the diligent daddy lessons
presented punctililously, with
fancy words like “indubitably”
Papa don’t preach
I’ve lived a good life
not the one you dreamed but
one forged from the voids
you left when you were here
and when you were gone
They told me “your daddy loves you”
as you laid there dying
“your daddy is proud of you”
as they laid you to rest
I say I have my daddy’s hands
and my mother’s heart
I say I didn’t dance with my father
or I don’t remember
I remember steel grey eyes
tenebrific, acheronian
longing for something
I’ll never know
Puman is our host for Poetics at dVerse Poets Pub. She has asked us to write about fathers and include at least three song titles from a given list. You can join in here.
Note: Today I turn 62. I was 22 when I lost my father to a heart attack. He was 48. He liked big words.
mishunderstood 
I can so much relate to those big words… and it must feel strange to never know him when you both had grown up.
Mish, I can relate to this. The void is so difficult to fill. You paid a loving tribute to him with some very big words.
Oh! And Happy birthday to you! Here’s to many more! 🥂
I lost my dad to a heart attack when I was too young to have learned what he really was. Life is hard.
So sorry to hear you lost him so early, Mish. I sense the aching void in your sentiments.
Touching. Thanks for sharing!
Beautifully touching Michelle 💕
So touching. I can feel the ache in your words.