A Father's Tears

When she first came into this world, I had teardrops in my eyes Rocking her to sleep at nights, was sure to make me cry With my pinky held in her hand while a bottle she was fed The moistness came to my eyes every time I put her in the bed When she first took the bus to school, I wept like a little boy The emptiness I felt that day mixed with a bundle of pride and joy The courage that my little girl showed with pigtails in her hair Filled my eyes up with tears - when she returned they still were there When she had her first recital, I held a hanky in my hand There were tracts of tears upon my cheeks as I would clap and stand She curtsied in her tutu and blew a kiss at me The water works would not turn off – but that’s no mystery When she first got her diagnosis, I tried my best not to cry But when my little girl said, “It will be alright”, I couldn’t keep them dry She never complained about this turn of bad luck that came her way And when I couldn’t be as strong, she always wiped my tears away When first I knelt beside her grave, I had no tears left to loose I would have followed her to heaven if that was a choice that I could choose Now I only weep in private, in her room late at night My world encased in darkness, since that day I lost my light