A Father True

Only in the shade of a parting,
Or shadow kiss of passing
Blessing the setting sun,
On a day most ordinary,
Will the waters of sweet memory
Within the soul awaken to read
Pages of a life lived simply,
Which you knew not to be written
In introspective aloneness …

The insight of the exceptional
And extraordinary glories of
A father’s virtues possessed and
Missed beyond doubt expresses:

A father true:
Tenders few words of affection,
By deeds, his humility in anonymity.

A father true:
Lays no claim to any success
Earned on part of his toil,
Yet the moral compass
Of a child’s character is
His real claim and treasure.

A father true:
Chisels and sculptures
Relentlessly from the granite
Of life, with dedicated hands
To compose a celebratory song
For renewal and healing a world.

A father true:
Will painfully expose the life
He holds dearest and nearest,
Thrusting it, repeatedly,
Quenching it in the hottest
And deepest flames,
Annealing and hammering,
Carving and shaping,
Forging an indestructible sword
Of life’s finesse to exceed him.

A father true:
In the most excruciatingly
Difficult moments of life,
Wears a coat of camouflage
With the brightest of colours,
Singing the happiest songs,
Hiding the companionship of
Challenge, grief and lament.

A father true:
Will strive to heal a wound
With restitution of tenderness
In an unspoken prayer of beauty.

A father true:
Afflicted with a child’s failure
Will wear the breastplate
Of a warrior’s courage’s
With shining armour,
Hiding wounds of bitter war scars
Where anguish can only
Be heard through and known
Through eulogies rendered and
Seen through the eye of a needle

A Father true:
Will on unceasing attacks
From forces of life, employ
The steel of fortitude,
Disposing himself in servitude,
As an impregnable fortress and
Invincible castle of protection.

A father’s true
Steel emerges and rises
When dreams lie shattered and
Rendered disabled in uselessness,
Spirit tattered and torn,
He may lie in bitter despair,
He who is love unconditional,
true home to shelter,
Nurturing the bruised heart
And the broken soul.

A father true:
On saplings’ weakness
May in honour speak with
Myrrh of rejuvenating words,
Frankincense of faith
Gold of comforting embrace,
That one may rise and
Dance when broken by defeats,
And sing when cut wide open

A father true:
With the smallest flickering
Candle embers of faith,
Will use love to transform
Harsh stones of life, to glide
Like softly falling leaves

A father true:
Accepts that his giving is akin
To the cause of free wind,
Consigned to be forgotten,
Anonymous and unknown
As living sacrifice for new breath.
It is his soul’s destiny to accept
With nobility to fulfil
The unrepayable debt of each
Life’s gift that treasured and
Granted him the grace and
Privilege of fatherhood.

A father true:
In the fading years
And dying of light
Will, with sacred sensitivity,
while avoiding offence of injury,
hoist the sails of adventure and
Remove sorrow’s clouds
As celebrated reaffirmation
That the deepest, greatest
And most meaningful of
Love’s innocence, were seeds
sprung from within his being

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama

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