Other Father's Sons - A Poem

  I guess he missed me, go figure. Like other father's sons, but usually not Nick I was at school, he looked for me. Looked out the window like he was waiting, like he missed me. I knew he was there. Suz says he rushed to the door, when he saw the truck, and he knew I was home. You brace yourself for the worst that you expect to be reality. Leaving him, and living with him, is a daily walk among land mines. You buffer yourself for self-preservation, to avoid the disappointment and the pain of being your son's father. This is totally unexpected, totally overwhelming, and I am unprepared. This is what it is all about, what you work for and hope for and pray for and fight for. Hold fast and don't let go, bottle this kid, he's the one we've been looking for and love so much. I guess he missed me, like other father's sons in the families that aren't like ours. Or so I thought.