Father from a distance
When she was in her mother’s womb,
I felt her move and kick.
While at the doctor’s office,
I heard her heart.
When she was born,
It was my hands that cut her cord;
When she left the hospital,
It was my arms that carried her.
I rocked her to sleep
When she wouldn’t sleep for her mother;
When she was a toddler,
We shared ice cream cones, she and I.
Her first day in school,
I was there to cheer her on.
When she was baptized,
I wore white right along with her.
Now she is twelve,
And there is a wall between us.
I am no longer there to say good morning,
No longer there to say good night.
For I am a father from a distance,
And I feel that distance every day.
