For Dad.

For Dad

How could a man, so smart and strong

Fall to his knees, and then be gone?

Satan’s snare had its grip on you;

Only Christ could have made you new.

Your battle was not with the flesh;

Addiction woke, so your heart couldn’t rest.

Forgive me please for leaving you,

As your spirit faded and painted you blue.

Your suffering was far too great

For this little heart to bear or take.

I still cry for your pain, I weep for you;

All you needed was a hand to pull you through.

How I wish I could have been more

And given you all your heart yearned for.

The drinking, the lies, were all I ever knew;

So my heart turned cold and my resentment grew.

It festered, spread, and entangled me

Til my vision was blurred and I could no longer see

The man that was really inside of you

The life of a pilot, the heart that flew.

When did it crash, your plane of hope?

To make you sit, and drink, and mope.

I never understood this curse on you

Until I grew, and sought, then knew:

That your life was marked by an emptiness

A bottom-less pit, a brooding abyss.

I know this place that captured you,

I’ve tasted its venom, but I’m done, it's through.

I hope my life will make you proud;

My song is new, my voice is loud.

The reason I’m here begins with you--

You made the seed, you filled the womb.

Your life shaped mine to what it is

Changed these eyes to see your struggles.

I’ll forever and always smile on you

I won’t be sad, I won’t be blue.

Your love will live on in Heaven’s rays

I love you Dad, I have always.

jlf. :-)