Stop it. Stop it!
God, I’m so annoyed!
It’s so damned irritating
Some stupid girl
Pigtails flying
Fingers prying
Trying to tickle
Not my thing
So childish and dumb
Just leave me alone
And forget your silly games

Now she’s growing
Hair flowing
Less inclined
To irritate father
No, she’d much rather
Indulge
In pass-times less frivolous
Altogether more serious
That’s just how it goes
I suppose

And my beard
Won’t stop sparkling
With glints of silver
Slivers of life
And experience
I want to pass on
To my wayward child
Who just last week
Gave me a rare call
Saying “Daddy, can I see you soon”
I said “Maybe, I’m just so tied up,
You see how it is”
She said “Yes,
I think I understand”

And I cried all night
Thinking “Wow, what a bastard!
How could you do that?
This is your daughter!
You’re better than that
She’s better than that
Blood is thicker than grief”
So I walked the dread mile
And I took her soft hands
And they dragged at my skin

And I told her that never
Would her father leave
Her sweet life, her soft life
But I won’t tie her down
That just isn’t my style
Even if I might need
Sort of truth, sort of calm
That just isn’t the point
She is mine, I am hers
She can let me go now
But I’ll always be there
To support and to be
An unjudging presence

The rest is for her
To discover in time
Melting clouds…