Journey of the Heart #5 Poetry For the Soul
Two poems about the empowering love of a father for his children
Article voiceover
Photo Credit: Chinmayan
Staying Up All Night With Our Sick Child
After our child finally
Goes into a deep feverish sleep,
I stand in the window of the dark
Fourth floor of the hospital and watch
Rain falling, cars passing silently
Below, houses across the road with
Their bright lights of
Normal life.
Down the hall,
Another child has been
Screaming off and on for hours,
But now as the night advances,
The silence of sleeping children
Falls throughout the ward—
The only sound is that
Of nurses talking gaily, their
Voices a lightness that
I am sure eases more
Than just my mind.
Earlier
As our daughter burned and
Shook in delirious tremoring,
I held her hand and stroked and coaxed
And assured her I would be
Right here all night long, at
Her side watching over her,
Praying for her life until
She finally drifted off into
The arms of healing sleep.
As the
Long hours crawl by, measured
In 50 milligram doses of fluids
Given intravenously, her fever finally
Subsides and she rolls on,
Deep in peaceful dreams.
But the child
In the bed next to ours cries
And cries for her mother—I overhear
The nurses say that her temperature
Is high and steady and they wonder
If the parents should be called.
Suddenly,
Her mother appears, gently lifting
Her into a close embrace which gradually
Calms her, until she too sleeps
And I alone remain awake,
Watching the sun rise
And a bright new day begin
Outside in the hurrying world made beautiful
Now because I know my child has
Passed through a healing crisis in the
Night and will live to see
A lifetime of days of
Laughter and light with me.
February 1984
Photo Credit: Chinmayan
Circles On The Water Of Time Watching my children On the edge of the bay, Waves licking at their feet As they toss in one Smooth stone after another— To make ring within rings On the placid water, I feel My ocean like heart flooding With a father’s love— As each moment with these Magical twin girls expands And expands Like circles Within circles Made on The water of time. February, 1983
Thanks for reading this issue of Journey of the Heart!
To access our wonderful archives of stories and poems, please check us out at
thedawninglight.substack.com anytime!
If you loved these poems, please click on the little heart to show us you did…if you know anyone who would love them or be helped by them, feel free to share our work by clicking on the Share Button…we would love to hear your comments, so please click on the Comment Button below!
From our heart to yours…never miss a chance to tell those you love that you love them and why…you never know when we may never get another chance!
Beautiful poetry! Thank you for sharing. 💜