Hand in Hand: A Poem for Father’s Day

We skip along hand in hand

I on the inside you on the outside

the birds sing the sun shines

on your little girl and my doting dad

*

We stride along side by side

I on the outside you on the inside

darkness falls the moon shines

on your feminist hippy and my fifties dad

*

We stroll along hands on the pram

I on the inside you on the outside

the birds sing the sun shines

on my newborn son and my proud dad

*

We saunter along,  a stick in your hand

I on the inside you on the outside

The clouds darken the rains fall

on your oldest child and my aging dad

*

I shuffle along hands by my sides

down the edge of the road

the air chills the trees stir

I’m all alone you’re no longer here

*

I miss you, Dad. Happy Father’s Day.

Copyright: Chris McGowan