I haven't posted a poem for awhile. Here's the latest. (Not about my dad.)
“Further up and further in”
is the motto of my father’s kin,
a father whose face I’ve never seen
though his voice still haunts me in my dreams.
Dad, I’ve never met you.
How long will you hide?
I’ve seen your smile in the sunrise,
I’ve heard your laughter in the tide.
Reading stories in a book,
I’ve wondered if I have your looks,
Do I breathe like you when I’m at rest,
and does your heart beat in my chest?
Dad, I’ve never met you.
How long will you hide?
I’ve felt your presence in the twilight,
I’ve sensed you walking by my side.
I feel I’m wandering a wasteland,
“Further up and further in.”
Is there someone holding my hand?
“Further up and further in.”
These words will never leave me:
“Further up and further in.”
I’ll keep searching till you find me,
and take on custody again.
I feel I’m walking in a desert,
I feel I’m traveling alone,
but I remember why I’m walking –
each step is one step nearer home.
These words will never leave me:
“Further up and further in.”
I’ll keep searching till you find me,
and take on custody again.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Hidden Father
Filed in: Bittersweetness Clues Poetry
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4 comments:
that is beautiful arie; tasteful lyrical flow and the repetition of a line from the Last Battle that has always made me shiver with anticipating delight
Thanks, Tim - a compliment from a bona fide musician. I originally wrote this as a lyric. And you recognized the Lewis reference. Excellent!
Awesome stuff. "Further up and further in!"
I know a little praise/worship song that is called Further Up and Further In, which also plays off this same thing.
Here are the lyrics as best as I can remember them:
Further up and further in
Came the cry upon the wind
Leave these shadowlands far behind you, my friend
Through a doorway in the air
A place for you has been prepared
Did a lion meet you there, my friend?I can't remember the chorus, though.
However, I like your poem (lyrics) a lot better. Deeper, and more poignant. :) Good stuff!
Thanks! :) Here's a question for you musician types. People commonly say "song lyrics." But when you refer to the words of one song in particular, do you say "song lyric?" Is "lyric" singular, and "lyrics" plural? Stupid, I know, but a question that has troubled my English-loving mind...
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