It often seems to grope
Towards the semblance
Of a quiet good
Sheathed against the failures
Of its own fractured manhood.
See how it traces the curve of a brow
The fleck of golden hair
Soft on those young lives
Witnessed at birth:
(yin and yang)
One child living, one child dead
As though the gods demanded balance
In the precious ache of loss
In the whisper of survival.
Holding that growing body
Deep in his arms
Cradled with his own vulnerable self
He surrenders the raw ineptitude
Of his hulking frame
To a protective, yet guided love:
No strong arms tactics
But slowly empowering the young child’s
Precious truths.
Inside the perils of fatherhood
A deep messiness prevails:
Anger and the fear of failure
Balances with tenderness and care
Floating on love’s sweet exchange
That, born alive, brings man unto child.
gar jones - April 2019
Towards the semblance
Of a quiet good
Sheathed against the failures
Of its own fractured manhood.
See how it traces the curve of a brow
The fleck of golden hair
Soft on those young lives
Witnessed at birth:
(yin and yang)
One child living, one child dead
As though the gods demanded balance
In the precious ache of loss
In the whisper of survival.
Holding that growing body
Deep in his arms
Cradled with his own vulnerable self
He surrenders the raw ineptitude
Of his hulking frame
To a protective, yet guided love:
No strong arms tactics
But slowly empowering the young child’s
Precious truths.
Inside the perils of fatherhood
A deep messiness prevails:
Anger and the fear of failure
Balances with tenderness and care
Floating on love’s sweet exchange
That, born alive, brings man unto child.
gar jones - April 2019