Three Ways of Looking at a Father
Dead these many years,
Dad's still there for me
every day, pointing
from a star
toward excellence,
the goal we shared.
I missed two free throws once
at the end of a high school game
and we lost by a point.
On the way home
after the game, he said,
"Why did you miss
those free throws?"
Years later in college
I came home with all A's
and one B. I showed him
my grades and he said,
over his newspaper,
"Why did you get the B?"
After graduation I was thinking
about getting married but I
wasn't certain. So I asked him
what did he think. Once again
he was there for me.
Sipping his tea, he said
"You asked the girl, right?
Follow through."