Blood of My Blood

With each sunrise and moonfall
You take a step down the road of your life
The one I promised to open for you
Each day I’m closer to a memory

How will you remember me in the smiles you choose
And the hands you hold
How will I be the example by which you know a man
And what it means to listen and what it means to speak

How do I hold the mantle of father without patriarchy
How do I guide through experience without expectation
How do I speak wisdom without willfulness
To question my authority yet protect you until you can protect yourself
What does it mean to be the man by which you will measure men

It means that with each word, each gesture, each look
That this body, this speech, this heart
Is refined into a memory that reminds you that you are the measure of men
That any power they claim is your own
And we gaze upon each other with wonder and respect

It means with each night I help to wake my brothers and friends from this nightmare
To remind them that this fantasy is born of fear
That this demon will grow lethargic and sleep if we no longer feed it with self-loathing
By pretending that our self-worth comes from denying self-worth to others

This is the vow I make
To be the one you have chosen to remember
That when my body returns to our mother
And this spirit is distilled into memories
May those whose blood is thick with my own remember, too

[image credit: Christina McAllister]