My Father

Ever since the day I was born
A man has been missing from my life.
A mother is missing too,
The both I can hardly know.

I was a baby
And there was a man missing from my life.
Not one to put me on his shoulders
Nor lift me way up high.

I was 5,
The man was still missing.
The age where I needed him the most
Is where he couldn't be.

I was 8,
Still the man had not returned.
I understood very little still about life
But I understood enough to know that something was missing.

I was 12,
The man missed my growing and my puberty.
I hit the age where life becomes clearer
But where the mistakes are plentiful.

I am 17,
And the man is still missing.
But it's okay that the man is missing
Because that man has always been my father.

He held me when I was baby,
And he missed me when he let me go.
He never put me on his shoulders nor up high
But I felt I could reach Heaven when he dropped by.

He worked to pay child support
And missed me every day he worked.
He wasn't there when I fell down
But he was sure to pick me up and set me back up on my feet.

He was there on my birthday
And missed me when he had to leave again.
He knew a lot about life
And knew I knew
Something was missing too.

He was thankful to miss puberty
But missed me growing up.
He saw my life unfolding before his eyes
And helped me fix my every mistake.

He is here
Right where I need him most.
I'm glad I knew him as a stranger
Because now I love him more as my father.