 | ||||||
My Father's Son
(A Sestina)
By Fred MacKenzie
When I was born there was plenty of time
for you to avoid me and go on with your life.
You could not see me when you looked in the mirror
because you lived as you were taught in the past.
Chidren were a bother who had no worth.
But I loved, and was lost in the glare of your reflection.
As I grew I saw the dimming of your reflection
and my admiration lessened with the passing of time.
It was obvious I had very little worth
because you had yours and I had my life.
Childish love was a thing of the past.
I could not see you when I looked in the mirror.
Who did you see when I looked in the mirror?
Was it yourself, or someone else's reflection?
The screaming and fights are now in the past
but healing these wounds takes time.
I have wasted many days of my life
waiting for you to show me that I do have worth.
As I matured I discovered the true meaning of worth.
It is what I see when I look in the mirror
and does not have to be given to me by others in my life.
I can find value in my own reflection.
This knowledge has been within me all this time
but I could not see it in the dark days of my life.
Now I must reconsider my actions of the past.
Did I ever try to show you that you had worth?
So many wasted days and now so little time
for me to repair the crack I find in my mirror.
You are not the monster I used to see in your reflection
but rather a kind and loving role model in my life.
You simply did not know how to express love in your life
because you lived as you were taught in the past.
Again I love, and am lost in the glare of your reflection.
Yet, I am unable to express to you the value of your worth
as I stand here alone looking at you in the mirror.
After all, I have been my father's son all this time.
There comes a time in every man's life
when he looks in the mirror of his past
to see the worth of his reflection.
