The Maiden’s Prayer–a Loving, True Father Poem by Margaret Alice

My father made me a cassette
with The Maiden’s Prayer at my request
when I heard him listening to it –
my father’s love for me lives in that song
as I listened to it this morning,
variations on a single melody line, lines of
notes forming waves in my
mind – a piano playing repetitive chords,
like his repetitive words - never
varying the truth, as dependable as sunshine,
full of integrity, just as insistent as
these weaving lines – not once has he ever
broken his word, once given; not
once has he ever made false promises;
a maiden never could have had
a more loving, true father; I sing along:
‘Ek onthou, ek onthou, ek onthou,
ek onthou, ek onthou, ek onthou- elke woord! ‘
(I remember every word)