A Day To Remember
The third of June is my father’s birthday,
it’s like a red-letter day for me to remember;
Though he’s gone now into the silent land,
his memories still linger in my heart and mind.
I was still a child with abiding interest and recount;
but with God’s sense of presence in me – I listened
especially in movements where the Spirit led me,
a moment to remember, a covenant to maintain.
Like an oasis in the desert elsewhere in the world,
God’s truth and consolation enabled me to stay;
that’s to hang on to his love and compassion
especially in moments when I felt so down.
My father’s untimely death made me reflect so far,
I was always in tears like an inward experience;
a source of affliction, a regimen of confusion
while seeing other children with parents around them.
I used to say that someday I would meet him
especially in my dreams and future plans to attain;
as his son who strove hard to make sense in his calling
with commitment and willingness to make a difference.
He’s someone who’d carry and bring me to my bed
at night whenever I fell asleep at our living room;
at my early age he’s a loving father – I missed him,
he’s a humble man, so simple in his own lifestyle.
However, when he fell ill and had to go somewhere,
he had to be confined for some tests and medications;
his sad face left me a mark that I’d certainly miss him.
It’s a time of parting and most of us were saddened.
But his absence meant something else that we reckoned
because he’s a loving father, so gentle to everyone.
Just the right time when he’s about to come home,
he’d a stroke that made him impossible to recover;
a grim final chapter that marked the end with pain.
Oh my dear father! You gave each of your children
a legacy to live, a covenant to make in shared experience
that as your children we tried to cope with sufferings
to enable us to move ahead and be successful then.
As I recall this important day of your birthday,
I still remember you especially in my prayers;
the vision that you gave me to be shared with my siblings
was enough to keep me going and embrace the challenge
to bring those gifts of love and sharing to my family members.
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