Chapter 2 - Father and Daughter

A Father and Daughter


The baby is born, she is laid in his arms,
Tears of pure joy stream from his eyes.
Who knew that such happiness would come from thier passion?
Who knew that such bliss would come from a baby's shrill cries?

She learns how to walk, she learns how to talk,
"Dadda and Mama," her little voice speaks,
He lifts her to the ceiling, thier laughter entertwined,
Lifting them high as nearby mountain peaks.

They teach her to read, they teach her to write,
A scrawled portrait of her parents and she;
They hang it up on the refrigerator door,
An achievement for all there to see.

"Father," she asks, "May I walk with you?
Along the sand, down by the water?
I will love you forever, no matter what happens.
Daddy, I'll always be your loving daughter."

She is growing too fast, he thinks sadly with regret,
As she enters high school with earrings and dyed hair;
But life cannot slow down, as they often wish.
She dances through youth, living life without care.

They argue and fight over boyfriends and piercings,
She bursts into tears of rebellion and rage;
He puts his foot down, barring boys in his house,
For he remembers how he was at that age.

After years of the struggle to prevent drugs, alcohol, and addiction,
There comes the graduation, she had finally made it.
They wipe tears from their eyes as she walks to the stage,
Accepting the diploma, as one who had earned it.

"Father," she asks, "May I walk with you?
Along the sand, down by the water?
I will love you forever, disregarding what happened.
Daddy, I'll always be your loving daughter."

He couldn't believe it, as he led her down the aisle,
That he was giving away his baby girl to another,
And yet, as they made thier vows true, his heart warmed,
As he remembered the simuliar scene with her mother.

It was equally strange when they had thier first child,
And his little grandson was brought into the world.
How the circle of life turns, he thought with great wonder,
From daughter to grandson, life too quickly unfurled.

Amidst all thier joy, he didn't wish to tell them
What the doctor so gravely announced with a frown.
Surely, it couldn't be true, no, it couldn't.
He had too much to do before he finally lay down.

"Father," she asks, "May I walk with you?
Along the sand, down by the water?
I will love you forever, no matter what happens.
Daddy, I'll always be your loving daughter."

Playing catch with his grandson, he ignores all the pain
That comes from his stiffening limbs, bones, and joints.
He helps his son-in-law build his life with his daughter,
Disregarding the dirction in which the symptoms point.

As he throws the last ball, his vision darkens with pain,
Clutching his chest, he falls to the ground.
The young boy runs to his parents and grandma,
As a laboring heart continued to pound.

He wakens in the hospital, surrounded by family,
Thier faces grief-stricken by the doctor's sad view.
He smiles gently as they try to pack in some more years
In the minutes he has left after hearing the fatal news.

"Father," she asks, "May I walk with you?
Along the sand, down by the water?
I will love you forever, no matter what happens.
Daddy, I'll always be your loving daughter."

He kisses and embraces his loving, grieving wife;
He talks about responsibility with the son-in-law.
He gives his only autographed ball to the boy,
And hands over his will into greedy relations' maw.

Lastly, his daughter he sees, holds her hand.
She cries, and begs him not to leave him today.
He smiles, and says, "My baby girl, I will always love you."
From the gates of heaven, he hears her say:

"Father," she says, "I wish I could walk with you,
once again, along the sand, down by the water.
I will love you forever, for the rest of my life.
Daddy, I'll always be your loving daughter."

She lays her head on his chest as he slips away,
Trying to catch his spirit with her aching heart.
All of his love envelopes her in his embrace,
Before his spirit goes to paradise, and they must part.

As the moniter goes flat, with a monotonous drone,
Nurses and family rush in, wide-eyed.
She sits up, tears streaming down her face in a flood.
Trembling, she says, "I'm sorry. My father just died."

Years later, cradling a granddaughter in her lap,
The daughter/mother/grandma smiles as she tells his tale.
"Let me tell you of my father, who you will never know.
Let me tell you of a man who loved me without fail."

"Father," she says, "Soon I will walk with you,
Along the sand, down by the water.
I will love you forever, until the world ends.
Daddy, I'll always be your loving daughter."

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