“Daddy, watch me, Daddy!”
Every milestone, every step,
The two-wheeler that
Fought me,
Tooth and spoke,
And all the while it was
“Daddy, watch me, Daddy!”
And he did.
And then I grew up.
And the refrain of
“Daddy, watch me, Daddy!”
Became: “You just watch me, Daddy!”
At all the plays, all the games,
All the disasters,
He did.
And then I grew away.
There was no more
“Daddy, watch me, Daddy!”
I was days and miles and
A cosmos away, on a good day.
I really didn’t want
My daddy watching.
But he did.
And one day
I realized that he was still watching.
And I was always his daughter.
And he loved me.
We met halfway and it was magic.
So now for several years,
I have been able to shower him
With love, with attention, with
Anything his heart desired, and
His heartburn loved.
And even then, child turned parent
To childlike father,
He was my dad.
And he watched me.
And as he lay dying,
Peaceful, but dying still,
I said, “Daddy, watch me, Daddy,”
And he smiled
And squeezed my hand.
“Daddy, watch me, Daddy!
He will.
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