Leaving home is quite difficult
You're going to see
But I don't mean for you
No, this is all about me

I'm your father, your daddy
I raised you from nothing
And now somehow you think
You don't need me or something?

Who might you think that you are, young lady
To go and be "Miss Independent" already?

Leaving my protection
Thinking you know best
I guess my fatherly advice
You just couldn't need less

Well, don't think you'll get off that easy, my lady
You can run but not hide
From your daddy's words
And just maybe they'll come back to haunt you
Or at least make you smile
Especially when you realize
I was right by a mile

Not bragging, just saying
That will happen a lot
Because your daddy knows best
At least, more often than not

So when you get in a pinch
Chances are, I've covered it
And my words will come back to you
Quite clearly, I'm sure of it

But on the outside chance
There's something you lack
If some piece of advice
Happened to fall through the cracks

You'll be comforted to know
That I will stay close in touch
For your sake, of course
Because you need me so much

Don't think that you don't
O you know that it's true
You'll miss my advice
But I suppose I will, too

My advice, after all
Was just to hear myself talking
At least that's what you thought
All these years
Now stop mocking
And rolling your eyes
When I tell you sincerely
To stay out of dark allies
And carry pepper spray
Not merely to make me feel better
Because this is not about me
There's a reason I give such good advice
And for free

I confess to only the highest of motives
I love you, my daughter
So I just can't help it

I would've given birth
To you,
Endured whatever
Mothers do.
Instead, I did
What Dads do.

I rocked you
Til my future shook;
Watched you til
I couldn't look.
As you changed,
I changed too,
To do the things
That Dads do.

You were bathed,
Dressed and fed;
I loved you so much
I was saved.

If there's credit,
Well, I get it,
For teaching you to read.
I took the blame
When you got bored
With school's ABC's.

I followed you
In all your roles,
Your teams,
Your solos,
Your trips,
Your shows.
First to clap,
Last to sit;
I taped it all,
From start -
To finish.

I taught you
How to tie a lace,
Ride a bike,
Golf and skate.
When time arrived
For you to drive,
You learned
On standard,
Never stranded,
You came home alive.

Your highs
I took in stride,
By example taught
Humility's pride.
Your lows,
I couldn't internalize,
I dropped my guard
With my eyes.

When Dad's do well
It's a double edge,
The future wedge.
The world
Revealed
Desired you too.
I don't dismiss
What mothers do,
But when Dads do well,
Both lose you.

For nine months you carried me;
Through hell, hurt, and hunger,
You carried me willingly.
And in the heat of July
You put me down,
And never carried me again.

So soft and delicate are Dharma's hands. They show no sign of age, work, or worry.

So soft and delicate are Dharma's hands, never careful in there search to touch, feel, and discover the world.

So soft and delicate are Dharma's hands, as they sit enclosed in mine.
Oh how I admire them most,
when they sit,
enclosed in mine.

In hot pursuit a father
Pursues the heart of his daughter
Wanting nothing more
Than that she knows he loves her

To feel it, to trust it
To grasp it so deeply
That it's never even questioned
Just part of her psyche

Pursuing her selflessly
Though admittedly not perfectly
At times, unreturned
Yet still hoping, waiting

Sometimes the race seems won
Then the finish line moves
Through the city streets of life
And that's when it behooves
Us fathers to keep chasing
With love and persistence
To keep speaking life
Into her very existence

Because the love we pour in
We just have to trust
Will be poured out someday
Though not always toward us

And that has to be okay
We just want them to see it
So they know that our hearts
Are all theirs, and can feel it

~~~

As I reflect on pursuing
The hearts of my daughters
My heart breaks for those
Who have not had good fathers

Not every girl has a dad
Who has pursued from the start
But we all have a Father
Who's still chasing our heart

Through the looking glass I see myself
But what do I really see?
This mirror gets a little ***** sometimes
And soon I can't see the real me

My thoughts and reflections confuse my view
Who am I really? I say
And sometimes my view is prejudiced
By how I feel today

"All's wonderful" I like to say
But those who know and love me
See my scars through their own looking glasses
And observe a different story

I wonder sometimes if they have a better view
Of the isolation I feel inside
The walls that I thought didn't even show
And the hurt my own mirror hides

I think, like most people, I prefer my glass
A little fogged up sometimes
I tell myself my life looks much better
Through this protective lens of mine

But sometimes love wipes away the fog
And I see what God sees, the real me
I dance at my happiest in those bright rays of truth
For true love brings such clarity

You see, true love loves me despite my faults
But true love doesn't fake or pretend
In fact, true love, like God, is the only thing
That can truly clean my lens

With heavy heart I watch my girl
Grow up before my eyes
Daddy dates and ice cream cones
Just can't compete with life

But every now and then I see
Her love for Dad's not just a memory
And I'm filled with hope that my little girl
Will give me one more twirl

With a butterfly kiss and a tuck into bed
She was always so carefree
Now school or boys or friends or work
Take her mind to other things

But I'll hold out hope that through life's ups and downs
Dad's love will touch her soul
And if it makes her feel just a little better
She'll give me one more twirl

We may never dance on a real dance floor
Or we might when she becomes a wife
But I'll dance with her in my heart every day
On the dance floor we call life

And I know the time is coming
When that last dance won't be mine
When the man of her dreams sweeps her off her feet
With the love of another kind

But I'll harbor hope that even then
The love of this dad for his girl
Will make her want--every now and then--
To give me just one more twirl

For three years she has moved me
Through the wonders of her eyes.
Flowing wells that glisten,
And beckon within.
     Her sudden movements
     Change direction
     To challenge or outwit
With the wonder of her eyes.

Furtive corners in the waters
Of her eyes, looking out:
A blink, a wink or shying tear
Disturbs ripples in my mind.

     My heart's flow rises
     When she smiles:
     She is the well-spring of  my life
With the wonder of her eyes.

Her hands direct the steerage
Of her course.
Sandboxes swell and dip,
And change to wonderous seas.
Her real dimensions are
Refracted, movements and directions,
Then defracted from my sight.

Imagine, her young colours
Looking out
Through the wonders
Of her eyes.