I originally posted this poem for Father's Day, 2021, in Facebook, and again in 2022, but I think I'm going to post here from now on instead. 

It's favorite poems of those I have written recently. If you like it, I would appreciate you're considering my book, Cloud Dreams, at Amazon. 

The Questions of Fathers

 
How do I celebrate today?
For the man who made me,
Frustrated with the me I was?
Or
The man who made me,
Pleased with the me I could be?


How do I celebrate today?
For the man who denied my need to be me?
Or
The man who filled a need he could see?
How do I celebrate today?
For the man who created an empty space?
Or
The man who oft times filled it with grace?
Could the second have flourished without the first?


How do I celebrate today?
Should I reject the second benign and favor the first as mine?


I reject the first’s discouraging nay, yet accept my life as coming from him.
I treasure the second’s encouraging faith and assert my heart as thoroughly his.
He is the one I honor today:
The man who helped me find my way.


(c) 2022 Victoria Lague