Poem of Fatherhood

[BABY1]

TweetNot What Was Promised

My problem with this is
this is not what was promised.
I think it would be easier if you just never dangled the carrot,
when you knew it was not even yours to dangle.

I like it when people say what they mean
and do what they promise,
and dispense with the empty boasts
that they think will seal the deal.

It starts with your parents who tell you that you can do anything,
when clearly,
King of Norway is not a possibility.

Then your teachers tell you that with hard work and perseverence,
and a quote from Thomas Edison,
you too can invent the airplane or travel to the moon.
When actually that has already been done.
Those moments are just yellowing newspapers with ads for corsets and Hi-Fis.

Where are the global think tanks promised in the movies where you work on fascinating ways
to save the world and invent cold fusion?
Where is this potential that we were supposed to have reached?

When you find yourself in your family sedan,
driving home from tiny little league victories,
or volunteering at the hallowe’en carnival,
does the fact that you grilled 400 burgers in three hours
make up for your inability to have been elected President?
I guess the school building fund thinks so
because they gave you a certificate and a pretty nice bottle of wine.

Yes. It is important to be average, just a few points from the mean,
less than two standard deviations.
But didn’t they tell you that you were destined for greatness,
outdistancing the pack,
the front of the curve,
that little part at the brim where obviously you belonged.

And when you look down at your child and they ask you the same question:
what will you tell them?
You will look in their shiny little eyes, and you will tell them that
they can be absolutely anything they want,
an astronaut,
a policeman,
a pickle farmer,
or the King of Norway.

And you will believe it,
or you will try,
even harder than you tried to believe it for yourself.

[MOUNTAIN-MAN]

TweetLove it sending a copy to my dad he is my hero

[MOUNTAIN-MAN]

TweetMy dad loved it baby so did my mom thank I for making them happy