The guide and sheppard, provides.

He teaches the little ones to do better, than him.

He gives them opportunity, into the future.

He stands also by the mother,
Through thick and thin.

Even when...
She does not stand with him.

The father shows the family patience,
Stoicism, calmness, and laughter.

In the face of life, a hard master,
He is there, to fix all.

The father gives the most valuable thing:
His time.

His responsibility and duty
Override him.

What begins as selflessness and sacrifice,
Grows into love.

The father is the anchor,
The branches that shelter small
Saplings, and the trunk that holds her
Up.

The father is given no reward,
Laughed at, taken for granted,
Poked, judged and sometimes vilified.
But his reward is there, always.

It is the gift of generations and company.
It is the gift of the mother smiling at her
Children, even when she looks at the
Grass over the fence.

The father asks for nothing,
But an early sleep when he can.

But he is given everything,
And more.

And for that,
He thanks the Lord, everyday.

Photo by Sebastiano Piazzi on Unsplash