#fathers
I see this generation born with no one left to take its hand,
And baby boys no fathers who will show them how to be a man.
I fear that this abandonment has only gone to spread the lie,
That no one could ever love them, and that little boys don’t cry.
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But hear me speak, brother, there’s hope for you!
I’ve heard your cries and now I sing for you!
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This is a chorus for sons who are abandoned, forgotten.
This is for the broken, unwanted, exploited, forsaken,
In search of acceptance and crying for justice.
This is a prayer for those whose fathers have failed them.
This is so you know that you’re loved, that you’re wanted and worth it,
This promise is true, you just have to accept it.
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Brother, I see all the pain and the hurt that he brought you,
You think it’s your fault but I’ll tell you it’s not true.
You keep it all inside and you believe it makes you tough,
And you decide that there’s no point in trying to feel loved.
But I won’t let you get away with acting like you’re fine,
No time for masks and hiding when your life is on the line.
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So hear me speak, brother, there’s hope for you!
I’ve heard your cries and now I sing for you!
I’ll be here for you, when you feel like this all is too much.
I’ll be here for you, when you’ve splintered understanding’s crutch.
I’ll be here for you, when you feel like there’s nowhere to turn.
I’ll be here for you, to show you a love that’s not earned.
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This is a chorus for sons who are abandoned, forgotten.
This is for the broken, unwanted, exploited, forsaken,
In search of acceptance and crying for justice.
This is a prayer for those whose fathers have failed them.
This is so you know that you’re loved, that you’re wanted and worth it,
This promise is true, you just have to accept it.
-
Who will be the fathers to this generation of bastard sons?
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I will love the unloved, be a father to the fatherless.
I’ll be a light in darkness and bring hope home to the hopeless.
I will be the one to fight this war against desertion.
I burn with holy anger, and compassion for your sons.
I’ve seen all of the heartbreak; I’ve seen the broken homes,
This ache within my chest is to see them all made whole.
And when I see the look of desperation in their eyes,
I think I finally understand why love would come and die.
——-
Best two fathers for jack cas and lucy
I’m so headass and in love with my son and he’s not even here yet. At this point he has no choice but to be wavy .
Catherine Lacey, “Cut” / Robin McKinley, Deerskin / Bruce Springsteen intro to “I’m on Fire” / Mary Ruefle, “Woodtangle” / Dick Lourie, “How Do We Forgive Our Fathers?”
ON THE 23RD DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF MY FATHER
My body reaches down into a bottle of gin
to make a world out of something close to death.
We were never meant to be alive,
to be 25 and a chandelier broken
into a million fragments of light.
Father allowed the bees escape from the beehive.
Here’s the sting, here’s the sound of fear,
here’s your father’s face carved into the day
breaking the world across your back,
here’s all his memories burning down your bones.
The wound hurts in its softest part.
During the war a father saved the severed head
of his daughter, he talked to it until a rotten
head talked back.
Here’s your father’s head in your bosom,
Here’s your mouth begging for love,
for his tongue to show you a way home.
Here’s your father saying you can’t teach
a dead man how to love.
All the rivers come into you,
which means water is never enough
to save a man falling from the sky.
I have learnt to love every broken thing
the way a man learns to live with a memory that doesn’t die.
I have learnt to carry my father’s body in my heart like a son
that inherits a knife cut without flinching.
ROMEO ORIOGUN
More Bang for Your Buck Running Scared
Brennan Bestwick
Isaac is woken by the hinge of his door. Before morning can open its red eye. Abraham is in orange head to steel toed boots. The pickup idles in the drive. A thermos of coffee in the cup holder. Isaac is gifted his first rifle. Isaac who jumps at the sound of thunder follows his father up the deer stand ladder. The boy who can’t look down. Abraham believes time is right to give his son to God’s country. To teach him to live off the land. Abraham is never gun shy when his shot grazes square in front of him. A twelve point buck. A fawn skipping behind it. The boy closes his eyes. Pulls the trigger. Misses. Hears Abraham’s low sigh. Watches the deer bolt. His chest pounding just as quick. Both of them spared. Next time. Abraham offers, a heavy pat on his son’s shoulder. Isaac winces. Feels the purple blush of a bruise begin to kick over his collarbone. Eye of the fawn wisening.
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Seethis Hebrew Bible passage for (some) context.
Today in:
2021:Rain, Peter Everwine
2020:Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale, Dan Albergotti
2019:Prayer, Galway Kinnell
2018:Egg, C.G. Hanzlicek
2017:Well Water, Randall Jarrell
2016:For Desire, Kim Addonizio
2015:The Coming of Light, Mark Strand
2014:Flying Low, Stephen Dunn
2013:The Envoy, Jane Hirshfield
2012:Red Wand, Sandra Simonds
2011:Trying to Raise the Dead, Dorianne Laux
2010:Asking for Directions, Linda Gregg
2009:A Blessing, James Wright
2008:New York, New York, David Berman
2007:Waste Land Limericks, Wendy Cope
2006:There Are Two Worlds, Larry Levis
2005:America, Allen Ginsberg
St Joseph, Guardian of Sons – Melchior Paul von Deschwanden
Eternal God, originator of Fatherhood,
I offer to you the blessed office of Father.
May the men who occupy this dignified place
protect and care for their children and wives
with valiant honesty, heroic chastity,
noble humility, and stern sobriety.
Ignite a fire in the hearts of men, O God,
so that they may respond to the Divine call
to fatherhood, both natural and spiritual,
and model themselves after the holy example of
Blessed Joseph, Father of the Universal Church.
Through his intercession, may fathers
be strengthened to flee from sin,
subdue their flesh, wrestle with the
powers of corruption, banish the darkness,
and obtain victory over hell and its agents.
We ask this through our
Lord Jesus Christ, sanctifier of all men,
to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.