Love Poem: The Moment I Understood My Father
Fariq  Yusoff Avatar
Written by: Fariq Yusoff

The Moment I Understood My Father

Carefree and eccentric, yet always aligned to his wife,
A heavy smoker who is refined only by his jokes and beliefs,
A tour guide of war, yet a yearning for peace stirs inside,
Nothing he would've change in his life, yet regrets still lived.

The weakness of my father broke my heart,
Knowing he was near responsible for our family's demise,
Unknowing to us till screams shattered our home apart,
Sending questions of separation into our eyes,

I thought we have descended, arriving on the seabed,
I left the house, searching aimlessly for my father who stormed out,
I found him and knew the reason for his escape,
Hiding tears from his wife and children in fear of losing us, no doubt.

I sat quietly beside him on the verge of tears,
It was the first time I witness such vulnerability,
From an image of a man, strong without fears,
To hiding his tears and sadness with all his ability.

"Come home dad", I said in a soft grieving breath,
My voice causing floods, leaving his eyes red.
As he explained of what have transpired before he abruptly left,
I felt a sense of empathy and clarity, intertwining destiny and fate.

That was the first time I felt humanity.
A flexible beauty flawed in every sense.
A mistake made by my father, changed him and taught me.
My reality deviating from charted waters to devoid of plan.

While my heart mends, a newfound respect was slowly building in my chest.
A bridge built across rough waters. An understanding met.
Staying for the children, have only left us feeling blessed,
It showed that we were more important than any action wronged. Every foul word said.