Today it's my daddy’s birthday.
Dearest Daddy
First dearest daddy
Happy birthday
I know you expect an out pouring avalanche of praise
As is customary to heap on expectant recipients.
That is not my forte.
You know your daughter well.
Daddy you're not a superman
And you've failed me at times
When I have come to you indignant and demanded help.
You let me fend for myself.
I had to wipe my own tears
And choke up my grievances.
I thought then my daddy never cared.
Second child and a girl
Always unimportant.
You bumble busily in the kitchen
Make us a meal when maids take off
And mommy is too sick. Which we both, you and I, know is the better part of our shared lifetimes Daddy.
What do I say?
You gave me life and you nourished me
Provided for us all
with such merry smiles of abundance
We felt like under a jovial sun
Whose warmth gave us life.
Many years later for this adult
child came a test
Life never stops but tries its best
To grind and test our mettle.
I did not think of coming to you
Because in childhood I was taught
Tackle your troubles
Shed your tears soft
But silent.
No one should know...
And then you came in your old age
And who should be leaning on whom daddy?
You lifted life's experienced wings to provide shade from my troubles
You brought me home
And swiftly brought home to me
You taught me what reality is
And how to avoid mirages of pain
And to know always
the difference between suffering
And suffocation.
Between petty fights and survival
Between grievance and grief.
Between grace and greed.
What's left daddy to say then?
You know me so well.
I have got my wings back daddy
Under your protective wingspan
They have grown,
And I promise you
I can fly again.
All rights reserved
(c) Amrita Valan 2014
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