Tears For Dad (a post Father’s Day poem)

I didn’t want to say goodbye
I would gladly have spent more sleepless nights at your bedside;
I know, quite selfish of me to hold on so,
But you were my best friend.
I wanted more time with you
I wanted you to tell me more of how life was when you were young.
With you I was able to live through decades I had never seen,
I could listen to you and imagine life simpler, maybe
without as much chaos and stress as I sometimes feel.

You were my connection to family members I never knew,
those family relationships of which death had robbed me;
When you recounted exchanges with your dad and your mother,
and when you remembered times with your older sisters and brothers;
suddenly those old gray-scale photographs were full of color
and I could see smiles in expressionless faces.

But, no more now; I must content myself
with my own memories that are beginning to fade;
you are yet alive there.
And now I feel such a need
to somehow immortalize you in my words;
foolish me,
I know you’ve already done that by your love to so many;
Yet, how will my little offspring know what a wonderful person you were,
I must no longer keep the wonderful relationship we had to myself,
I must share the warmth, joy and love knowing you has brought to me,
I love you, my dear departed Dad, you are still the flickering light glowing within my soul.

-Donald R. Sansbury, 2013

My Tender Son (sonnet for my youngest)

A tender son my loins begot
Yet peers said, “Raise him rough.
If he’s to see his chosen lot
You must make him tough.”
So on such poor advice I tried
To be rough with my child,
But found it my own heart belied
T’ward my gift so young and mild.
I found their ways too brutish so
I tried soft love instead,
I championed his every move
And poured belief upon his head,
He makes me proud it seems each turning of the Sun,
I’m proudest that my tender son is still my tender son.

-Donald R. Sansbury, 2013

My Rugged Son (sonnet for my firstborn)

A rugged son my loins begot.
My peers said, “Break him now,
Or you’ll regret it come the months
When you’re standing brow to brow.”
So I thrashed him ’til ’twas I who cried,
Then I reasoned deep within the why,
If God had given him a warrior’s might
Should I then set to make him meek and mild.
So I endeavored to train him then to be,
my rugged child with warlike traits,
the man only God looking forth could see,
one day His grace and love would make.
I’m proud of him now grown, and yet my rugged child,
He’s a man among men, a gentle man…unless he’s unduly riled.

-Donald R. Sansbury, 2013

Being Dad at Bedtime

Backpack Toys version of Teddy Ruxpin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“My friend, my friend, that’s what you are to me.”
Father and toddler sang their bedtime song.
“My friend, my friend, ’cause I love you, and you love me”
Teddy Ruxpin’s song brought a bedtime calm
to the highly energetic child.
Mother and brother only made him more frantic,
Grandma and others tried also their antics
with the highly energetic child.
But when Dad went in and they sang their song
Peace soon prevailed and sleep would come on
for the highly energetic child.
That child would go on to be a grown man
But he’d never forget that song with his ‘friend’
when a highly energetic child.
So when life’s pressure would grow to a frenz’
He’d remember that song and sing it again
like the highly energetic child.
He’d remember his Dad and that’s when he knew
his ‘friend’ always remembered him too,
his highly energetic child.

-Donald R. Sansbury, 2013

~Matt is now a graduate student at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA in the English PHD program. We remain the best of ‘friends’ and he still calls me when he is in a situation where he needs to ‘calm down’ quickly. I am most proud to be his Dad!

What A Dad Is There For

When his bike chain slipped off its gears,
When his hair grew past his ears,
When he had to face his fears,
That’s what Dad was there for.

When his arm was broken, twice?
Then his leg much later in life,
Facing bills with children and a wife,
That’s what Dad was there for.

Now a dad can’t fix everything
that a life lived full can bring,
But to keep his son from losing heart,
that’s what Dad is there for.

Sometimes wisdom, sometimes belief,
sometimes just space apart,
A good dad will give only what his son needs,
That’s what Dad is there for.

-Donald R. Sansbury, 2013

~Happy Father’s Day to my son, Marc, who cherishes his two little girls as I have always cherished being the father of my two sons.

In Memory of My Dad

Happy Father’s Day to all dads. I wish everyone had experienced the fatherly love and devotion of a dad like ours.

Donbury Pond

The portrait of that precious weathered brow
hangs gracefully in the gallery of my heart;
How those loving eyes though dimmed by age
Still can charm me as I gaze therein, and
soothe me as sweet memories start to roll.
Oh, the beauty of that aged hand half raised
As ’twas oft when he’d tell me some old humorous tale
With names like Spurgeon, Roscoe, J. D., Slim and Dan.
That hint of smile I see there harks me back to how
he’d start a joke, and have to pause and shake his head,
laughing by himself until he’d calm enough
to tell the punch line for the rest.
His portrait hangs in quite a featured spot
next to The Lady of my heart who risked her life
to give birth unto mine. I view not one but see the twain
when should I look within my reins to take…

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IT’S THINNERING (When My Youngest Was Three)

thundercloud #1 (Photo credit: Giyu (Velvia))

“It’s thinnering, it’s thinnering!”
Cried the child running in with fright.
“It’s thinnering, it’s thinnering!”
Leaping up to his father’s side.
“It’s thinnering, it’s thinnering!”
“Shhh, child…you’ll be alright.”
Thunder is not so scary
when Dad is holding you tight.

-Donald R. Sansbury, 2013

Putting Off Seeing the Physician

Daily Prompt: Take Care

 

When you’re unwell, do you allow others to take care of you, or do you prefer to soldier on alone? What does it take for you to ask for help?

 

English: Herbal Medicine Man (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The doctor asked why do you wait
until you’re almost well before you come my way
It’s a family habit I said to him
Grandpa was an old time medicine man
My mom was much like him with remedies galore
she knew a cure for everything from old time country lore
In a time long past when doctors were scarce
folks would call on Grandpa for help with their care
Never anything invasive, just natural cures and herbs
Such knowledge was passed down to him, thus he learned
My problem is I only know enough to help endure my pain
To get well I always have to go and see my doctor yet again

 

-Donald R. Sansbury, 2013

 

Weekend Fun At Nana’s

Daily Prompt: Ripped Into the Headline

Write about something that happened over the weekend as thought it’s the top story on your local paper.

Photographers, artists, poets show us something from your WEEKEND.

“Pretty maids all in a row”
is the phrase that came to mind
as I watched the face of Nana glow
while watching our granddaughters smile

Cousins together from different states
reunited after so long a time
Hugs at Nana’s house, since they were babes
makes their joy here one of a kind

They laughed and played and reminisced
about fun things from years in the past
They talked about the things they now miss
and their closeness that seems to last

All too soon they had to part
and go to separate homes
They’re still a joy to grandparents’ hearts
although they now are almost grown

-Donald R. Sansbury, 2013

Everyday Ordinary (poem: senryu)

Daily Prompt: The Normal

Everyday (Dave Matthews Band song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is being “normal” — whatever that means to you — a good thing, or a bad thing? Neither?

Photographers, artists, poets: show us EVERYDAY.

Everyday living:

Doing all life’s normal things

Ordinarily

-Donald R. Sansbury, 2013