Fathers

In a father’s toil-worn face can be read the epic tale:
Within his eyes is a boy I once knew
though we never met.
See how he carries you and carries me
And the offspring of his soul
as if we weigh no more than birds perching on his fingertips
yet are dearer to him than the stars.

It is there in his eyes, not easily read,
Each true man is like this, holding within himself
A world that once was, a world that may be made anew.
He knows himself as incomplete, sees his failures
As do all men before the ending of their tale.
Though with each ending a beginning is writ,
Each death is birth for which he knows full well the cost,
Yet this price could not be paid alone, without you.
~Michael O’Brien