You could see the pain in dads eyes
As children, we asked him so many whys
The answer to our questions asked
He answered through pain masked
I did not realize
The pain in dads eyes
It wasn’t from answering our questions
But was from pain and congestion
Our dad was never healthy
As a young boy
He was in bed with polio
While his siblings played with toys
When he was twelve, he determined
he would walk
Even after listening to the doctors
Negative talk
The day came when he got out of bed
A new determination was in his head
Years later, he married a woman he
thought loving and kind
He knew he would marry her because
He had made it up in his mind
The children came one after another
He didn’t mind; he just loved our mother
It’s only after looking at
His picture today
I realize the struggles
That was there on display
We children never noticed back then
The sacrifices he made each day again and
Again