My Father the Stranger.
I enter the room, a bleep and hollow breath the only sound
a single bed, a chair and cardinal machine stand by the side.
There is Warmth but yet a cold chill fills this space.
A cold not of this world, I cannot help but shiver.
My legs are as concrete posts, not unlike those that hold up my fence.
Slowly inch by inch I move these posts closer to the bed.
My eyes were just a few months old when last I looked at him.
Even then I strived to know who he was.
Out of our front door you fled, no look back, no return.
For almost three score years no contact, no phone calls, no words.
O throughout those times I needed you.
My tears and fears, alone without protection, received no reply.
I have brothers and sisters that I have never known.
I am Uncle to a Nephew and niece, we’ve never spoken.
Why did I come here, you are a stranger to me.
Have we passed in the street, neither knowing who the other was.
Father and son is a bond that ought not be broken.
Nothing should come between them, protection and direction.
You are here now all alone father, no one crying aside your bed,
Save the son you chose to abandon all those years ago.
All at once an alarm goes off, a sound so loud it splits my ears.
Nurses and doctors rush in, Out I\'m told, I leave the room.
Half an hour later the doctor comes and tells me,
“I\'m sorry your father has passed away”.
There is No sadness upon hearing these words, just anger.
I never got to talk to you, nor hear your voice reply,
I never got to ask you the question father.......Why.....