Father And Son Poem by Arti Honrao

Let me tell you all, a story
of father and son
who lived happily
before the conflicts begun

Every Sunday morning they went for a walk
spent time having a man-to-man talk
Sitting on the bench at the sea-side
like friends meant to be together forever
Father and son
spent their time enjoying every moment together
Nearly in the afternoon, they used to return
Arm in arm, before the conflicts begun.

They used to sit on the couch, reading together
till lunch was served on the table
Then they used to spend time together
Munching their lunch, watching movies on the cable
The lady of the house was proud to see them as one
This was when the conflicts had not begun

One unfortunate day, the father lost his job
He decided to talk to his son about the lost job
That evening the son returned home, tired and exhausted
Father never realized that he would not be interested
As usual the father put his arm around his son
And the son put his arms around his father too,
But this was before the conflict begun.

When the son came to know
that his father is jobless now
He understood that the entire responsibility
would be on his shoulders now
Slowly his arm slipped down from his fathers shoulder
He walked a few steps away to avoid his father
The father did not know the things had changed
He walked to his son,
to have the things arranged.
'Oh father, you are an old man now,
Why don't you just stop following me around the house
Why don't you do something worth,
than just sit back jobless in the house! '
The father knew from experience, the things were different now
He knew it was time for him to step back now
He turned around to look at his wife, who,
as always, was standing by his side.

Every alternate day,
the discussion turned to the fathers' contribution to the house
One fine day, the father was seen dusting the furniture of the house
His wife came running to him and pulled the duster from his hand
She looked in his eyes and gently held his hand
She said, 'He would understand soon,
what being a father means
wait till he gets married and has his own son
let him wait till he grows old and is said to be worthless by his own son'
The father, now tears in his eyes
looked at his wife and said
'Sweetheart, let this never happen'