For Lowell


     I was a child when daddy decided to leave,
     Through i clung to his hand he still went away.
     The years have passed, no word did I recieve,
     My memories and feeling have faded to gray.

     Then you came along with your willing ear,
     You persuaded me to open my heart and peer inside.
     Knowing you are by me I have little fear,
     Of seeing the hurt and anger I there hide.

     Who you are to me I sometimes confuse,
     Slipping into a fatherly role by no set plan.
     Your kind and gentile wisdom I so often use,
     These loving feeling for "father" or man.

     The old hurts and distrust I find you erase,
     With love, faith and honesty.. you replace.


                                 Oct 1992

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all poems copywrited by Becky Goodrich
all rights reserved, not to be used without
expressed written consent