My Father's Son Poem by Barry Middleton

my father sat beside me
as we headed down the river
he was not strong
but he was still a man

oh he could fell the timber
and he could plow a furrow
but many things
he could not understand

he could not say I love you
but he knew the darkest forest
and he knew the lonely place
I had to go

and he could not travel with me
far beyond the river valley
nor teach me all the things
I had to know

yes he was like the mountain
that I had to face alone
like many things
I'll never understand

but I told him that I loved him
and his eyes filled with tears
as he looked up
at a strong but lonely man