This is your father.
He is a man of the birds,
without wings, feathers, or sense of north,
he lives in the clouds.
You are his tune to carry.
Your flight together will be long and directionless.
He will forget you are there sometimes.
He will drop you for a moment.
He will know when you no longer need carried,
you won’t have to tell him.
You will see in him a true masculinity that is both beautiful and fierce,
intense and kind,
boldly selfless.
Your presence will remind him to remember what he wants to never forget.
He finds rhythm without words, and he will show you how.
He knows each word’s rhythm, and he will teach it to you.
He is a man of the birds,
With instinct, feeling, and prayer,
he will show you why he lives in the clouds.
This your father.
Photo by Taylor Sporleder