Love Poem: The Day My Daddy Died
Hattye Jones Avatar
Written by: Hattye Jones

The Day My Daddy Died

to my daddy, Walter M. McGlothin (Aug. 2, 2005)... going home!!!

When someone you love is taken away
There is never enough time
No matter if its
Days,
Weeks,
Months,
Years,
Eons...

~

The heart can't seem to handle an absence
That is the beginning of its existence

~~

My daddy died today...
And eighty-six years of living, still
Did not prepare our hearts for God's will
Forty-nine years of knowing him
Still did not brace me as his life dims

~~

My daddy died today...
And yesterday I prayed
That his suffering be stayed
Yet I wasn't ready to accept
His calm face as he eternally slept
In the hospital bed in desperate escape
Wearing a diaper that made my heart ache
Needing a tell-tale sign that life just slowed
Not stilled; finding none, the blood no longer flowed
I was not ready to let him go...

~~




My daddy died today...
Surrounded by a family's dismay
Seeing his strength slipping away 
Before our eyes each day
A strong, proud man
Never in need of a helping hand
Riding a bike at age eighty-plus
Able to out talk the lot of us
Dwindling as sifting sand 
To a small fragile man
A diminishing strength behind the pain
He steadfastly refused to claim…

~~

My daddy died today…
And we left to mourn his passing
Know within our hearts that everlasting
The originator of our field of flowers
Is resting with the omnipotent powers
In serenity of death the pain belied 
He endured during his living decried

~~

The warmth of his hand 
As I for the last time
Touched my father’s soul casing
A memory that will forever be mine

~~

My daddy died today…
And in the faces of my sisters, brothers
Nieces, nephews and my mother
I saw the blessing his life had given
I saw the strength we inherited even
When we didn’t see it during his living

~~

I saw the love of a family that will miss
The essence of my daddy’s character
And mourn the passing of his spirit
From here to the forever after

~~

My daddy died today…
And now I know why God granted me
The many days we sat on his porch together
As he told me about the life of a man
I didn’t know even though he was my father

Now I can see the dark cloud blessings
Seeing his strength weaken to a point of realizing
That God has indeed blessed him to live
To understand the one thing only God can give

~~

Life
This one granted abundantly
Through the blessings of a loving
Overflowing, caring family
Our riches and wealth realized
Magnified
And deeply
Exemplified... 

On the day my daddy died