A Daughter’s Father
*for both those with the credentials and potential*
Though I’ve yet to father a child,
I feel the connection enough to honor it now.
Being a father pardons me from the courtesy of being polite.
If a threat should happen to announce it’s presence,
No matter the source, my force will trounce and eject it…
And in the case of my daughter, no mercy will be offered or sacrificed!
Although there’s no equal to seeing
the brilliance of your Sonrise,
Or no better feeling than to witness
the beauty of your son’s bride…
There’s something to be said for molding the
independence of your daughter’s arising.
To raise a modest goddess and Nubian
warrior is a beautiful marvel.
To haze an incompetent accomplice or
dubious courtier is a dutiful armful…
One where tact is less evident as fierce facts take precedence
in ensuring her broadened horizon.
I’m rearing proverbs in my daughter
To put fear in those without proper honor…
Anyone with values lesser than the vows due to
respect her will feel the wrath of her father!
I’m not gonna be hip to hearin’ their problems.
I’ma be strict like a Nigerian father…
And if they should dare touch her, I’m solvin’ the problem with a revolver!!!
Now, of course I’ll inflict no physical harm,
For my God equips me with Biblical arms.
Though the pistol’s gone, the critical visual drawn is one of deadly accuracy.
The damage that it can manage to inflict
Is far more lethal when it attacks the flesh that it hits…
For even as I use it, its fuse is lit to backfire against my steady inaccuracies.
So while I await the gift of her baccalaureate conception,
I contemplate the strength of my own inactive inception –
Fatherhood is a lifelong focus on mistaken efforts and lost gestures in time.
Along the way, I will see the man that I want to become.
As long as I wait, the end of my journey remains undone…
As I’m only a farther visitor to the character in the eyes
of the fathers of my sister and cherished bride.
‘…Now the girl is sensible, courageous, and very beautiful; and her father loves her dearly…’
– Tobit 6:12c (Catholic canon)
‘A thoughtful daughter becomes a treasure to her husband…’
– Sirach 22:4 (Catholic canon)
**
My ‘Maiyan’ Calendar
Unlike the Mayan calendar,
When I look at Maiyah’s caliber,
My heart’s held high like Excalibur – though sacrificed, my world hasn’t ended.
Rather, my world was re-spun
From the first seed of my son…
What her birth’s begun is a new beginning that’s replenished.
Like shows that go into syndication,
My second go was slow vindication.
Being a dad again was so intimidatin’! – a date with my daughter threw me for a loop.
Though I did recoup and live to see another day,
My system rebooted my quips to meet another fate…
As I utter phrases that only she supports and truly approves:
Like Maya the Bee, made in fun,
Maiyah Kee creates a buzz!
Like Ladybug (her favorite cuz), I need six legs just to keep up with her recitals.
Though sweet as honey, she’ll swat detested combs
The minute they rock that nest on her dome…
She’ll still ‘bee’ a queen, not a pest to control –
blessing whatever she sets her mind to.
So let it be said – Maiyah, you turned my world upside down!
Like Earth to Luna! – I’ve gotta know… what’s THAT all about?!!
But when you do it all with a smile – like Honey Bear,
it’s a little more bearable!
From Llama Llama to yada yada,
Your talk has grown from ‘Not the mama’ to constant comments:
Nonstop prompts and commas that are far too cherishable!
As such, I rush to tweet and Facebook
What you say between singing Ruff-Ruff, Tweet and Dave hooks!
If I saved all of what you say in a book, I’d have to juggle
the Jungle a Bunch of times!
Rather, I’d have the Jungle Book, definitely:
Bearing your bubbling brook out of necessity…
As I wade in the water of your destiny – steeled by your subtle punchlines.
And you DO pack a punch like Arthur Read’s lil’ sis –
Less all of her larger misdeeds and lil’ quips.
Maiyah, my lil’ miss – you’re already school material
though you’ve yet to pack a lunch!
You were meant to be a Queen of Wisdom
the instant you reached the earth!
Just pay your dues as Princess Sophia First!…
As you lead the earth moving from back to front.
Not that you lack the stuff it takes to be pushed past the backend –
You’re hardly that, you are NOT what the cat dragged in!
You’re like the Last Dragon – you’ve got the glow from the Master!
To reach that upper level –
your mind, body and soul must be one, LOVE!
With such love for God, you WILL plunder the devil –
It’s a sacrificed way of life – it takes hard work… but just trust…
You mustn’t rush – at just five years old, He’s gonna promote you faster!
You’ll be the cat’s meow, faster than me and your fantastic mama!
As your dad, I’ll be proud –
like Hello Kitty, you’ll be the cat’s pajamas!
Forget PJ Mask drama – you’re Peg… Plus the Nature Cat in the Hat!
Rather, your renewed nature is to really shine like the Son.
You can do this while being as silly as you want…
But realize Chilly’s not in front – it’s Doc McStuffins who has her act in the bag!
**
Double Digit Declaration: 0 to 10
Forget babies and ODB pacifiers –
Me and Maiyah
Go back like Nehemiah: we rebuild walls together!
And though the same walls torn down in her infancy
Are the same walls she drives me up intrinsically…
These walls are in-TEN-tionally strengthening the gilded bond I treasure.
The bond I speak of is between daughter and father.
The bond I speak of has got-TEN a lot stronger.
From top to bottom, her strong persona challenged me early on.
From her “not the Momma” drama
To her staunch and dogged dogma…
I was NOT a father until I gallantly took this girlie on!
I knew she was an immense blessing
within the first TEN seconds.
By the TEN-th minute,
we had a TEN-se kinship –
Without a sen-TEN-ce mentioned, she took my breath and words away!
For the next 10 weeks to 10 months,
What the enemy had pent up
Became something she sensed and TEN-sed from:
as I’d become drenched from the depths of worldly rage.
It’s beyond ironic that my baby delivered me.
I was cross, if I’m honest, at my jaded liberty.
Though at the Cross, the darkest onyx had weighted my chivalry down.
The dark stone that hung around the blackest part of my neck
Was the weight of the world that’s kept black men harnessed and suppressed…
While I’d become hardened and depressed – she became the last Kee to lift me out.
Twisting around and bottled within terribly,
This spirit drowns and throttles men with no therapy.
Possessing thoughtful yet hollow heresies, it TEN-ds to swallow us whole.
By the time most are perplexed and aware of it,
It’s already passed to the next parentage
As a hexed heritage begetting an inheritance beset with one unhallowed goal.
Yet and still, I broke free from following this mold
Thanks to my little girl’s hallowed role.
She hollered and rolled like Rock ‘n Roll ‘til I took a look within.
Once I saw what was haunting my TEN-ement,
I became resolved to get rid of it…
As I unlocked and launched its sentience booked in the nooks within.
Thanks to the touted clout of her age’s suffrage
I started to rout all the rage and suffering.
She aided her brother and mother in making me a better man!
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings,
The Lord’s strength ordained an utterance…
Saving the substance of a husband and father to make me a better Dad!
From TEN months to TEN years,
|It’s been rough but it’s been dear.
It’s been clear: I’m meant to rear her up in the fear and admonition of the Lord!
I’ve been the father who instructs and corrects her.
|I’ve been the father who loves and protects her…
It’s been my honor to cover and address her with a
status christened once she was born!
That’s why I’m her not-so-secret body guard
Who might just do you bodily harm!
I’ve been properly charged like China McClain’s pops in Black Lightning.
I’m at her side like a firearm:
Ready to ride or die like Ruff Ryder songs…
Like her inspired Mom, I’m writing entire psalms tasked to unmask her likeness!:
From the joyful noise of TEN tickles,
To her boisterous voice as a minstrel –
She’s been instrumental in my life like Go-Go tapes and CDs!
So, from boys to menstruals,
To more boys with TEN-tacles…
I’ll deploy TEN missiles – who and whatever causes her to ache will bleed!
