Fatherhood

Many men dream of their sons
Following in their own footsteps
Some certain rite of passage
My step-father was a geologist
A man of the world an adventurer
And an alcoholic through mid-life
A macho man of love and bigotry
Idolized by his flock of daughters
My father was a failure I'm told
By the people who keep score
A mama's boy with talented feet
Whose very name inspires anger
A boring competitive man that
Never drank a drop until mid-life
I suppose this truth leaves me
Sitting somewhere in between
Holding the bag of reconciliation
Left to sort out the contradictions
My sisters will never understand
I loved them both they loved me
I give my son the best of each to
Him I offer what is the best of me
I think this amounts to something

(2006)

Jeffrey Spahr-Summers