He walked towards me with an East Harlem limp, mean muggin the wind for making his ascent more difficult. Dude towered over his surroundings, city skyline dwarfed in the background like an unworthy opponent. Steady strides conquered the hill. Black leather set on broad shoulders. Furled eyebrows and a chew stick.
This cat wasn’t nothin easy.
i was so focused on him, i ain’t see the baby boy behind him fumbling a football and clumsily failing to catch up. Tears moved from his voice to his eyes:
Daddy,
wait Daddy! Don’tleave me!
Daddy’s face grew confused, then pained at the possibility that he could even be slightly mistaken for possessing the same shameful traits as the man who came before him. He swung around, picked up his boy, and with the fiercest gentleness i’ve ever heard, told his sun,
i’ll never leave you, you hear me?
i’m your father. i love you.
This cat wasn’t nothin easy.
-amari
2 responses so far ↓
Mama T // November 11, 2009 at 6:58 pm |
the world could use more images of fatherhood. thank you for this poetic portrait.
sunnydelyte21 // November 12, 2009 at 8:27 am |
i can most def get with this..and i agree with Mama T