A Father's Day Tribute to My Dad

Peter Maddock, US Army, WWII

Dad, my Dad, where have you gone?

I once walked by your side.

My two small steps could never match

Your slow, but gentle stride.

My small hand in yours would rest; 

You were a giant then.

But yet so patient, yet so kind--

My hero among men.

Dad, my Dad, where have you gone?

Your lap was once my throne;

Your hair a crown of grizzled black,

To gray when I had grown.

Dad, you shouldn't work so hard,

You're getting much too thin.

Go out and shoot a round of golf,

Take me--for sure, you'll win.

Father, dear, I'm far away,

I need a loving hand

To slip me change when I go broke

And gently reprimand.

Dad, my Dad, where have you gone?

My son walks by my side;

His two small steps will never match

Your slow, but gentle stride.

I wrote this poem in the college library the summer of my freshman year.  Dad died a little over two years later, a semester before I graduated, and was buried on my twentieth birthday. Dad, you're still my hero. I love you, and I miss you.