for our fathers

for our fathers, who start out being behind the count
by not being the ones
who bear us, having not had
the intricate internal intimacy of us.
our fathers, who must fight on two fronts,
against their own obsolete upbringing and against our
inborn childish obstinacy. for our fathers, who are strong
but must at times appear weak for our sake, who
are weak but at times must appear strong,
for our sake. this is for our fathers, who frequently fear
that they haven't finished their job, whose hearts
are often heavy, sometimes hard, but always full, and whose
heads are often half against the facts that they
engender. this one is for our fathers, this
is for our fathers. may we one day love them in turn
as much as they have loved us.