• A mans deception is only overcome by the truth in his silence

    Only drowned out by a motionless tongue

    Still your voice and allow your eyes to do the talking

    for one gaze is worth more to me than a hundred false phrases

    and the messages delivered in your stare, the pure self inside you




    No longer do you have to shield me within concrete walls,

    or perhaps they're just what you hide behind to guard yourself

    But I'd rather see your pain, how hurt you truly are

    for only then can I actually begin to comfort you

    Uncover these wounds, because only then can they really start to heal



    Don't attempt to fool me with a faulty grin

    Smiles can't cover tears, Dad

    so let them slide as I fix my eyes upon yours




    Your mother, the one who

    tucked you in as a child to protect you from the shadows on your walls

    who called you every Sunday for years, just to see if her boy was still living well

    who always resented my mother for taking you away from her

    and the one who brought you into this world

    has now left it

    She is gone, and yet I feel as if I've wept more than you have




    I've heard of the indestructible Berlin Wall giving way

    even the perfectly buoyant Titanic going under

    And as for you, now is not the time to be strong, Dad




    I need to know, for you to show me that I'm still a man

    Even when broken down, and soft under side exposed, vulnerable




    You don't have to be afraid to crumble, to sink your head in my shoulder

    pound your fists to the ground in agony

    or bow your head in prayer, as you haven't for so many years

    Because I will always understand the need




    For I stare across the room at my mom

    and can't fathom losing her, not now, never




    And I catch you watching the phone some Sunday afternoons, still hoping for a ring

    it seems you almost resent your wife too,

    for stealing you from her,

    and you sleep restless most nights,

    Maybe it's the shadows on your wall.




    But until the day you stop fighting your quivering upper lip

    and let salty streams free fall down your façade of a face

    I am only able to grant you a false grin in return when you tell me you're alright

    I still wait for your true answer when I ask how you're doing

    For you to look me in the eyes and finally put an end to this deception

    Dad, it's been over a year now

    the lies are getting weak and so am I

    When will you also give in?