To Her Daddy's Work Today

Poem based on a dream I had one night. "Daddy, Daddy, let me come to work with you today", She stood there sobbing as I drove away, And in the rearview mirror I saw her crying as she waved, And felt my heart break one more time again. Everyday was just the same; I said she couldn't come, My days were busy and I hadn't time, To hold my baby on my knee and tell her how I felt, Or have a cup of her 'pretending tea'. My days were full of things to do and people I must see, With meetings, shops and sometimes interviews, And she would have to understand that Daddy's days were full, And she would have to wait 'til he got home. But even then there wasn't time to listen to her dreams, Or watch her as she showed me how she danced, And when she went to bed and asked if I would read a book, I said, "Another time and maybe then." Another day; I'm in the car and heading off to work, And in the rearview mirror I see a face, It's no one that I recognize or anyone I know, A woman with a tear upon her cheek. And then the image changes and I see a little girl, Who's calling for her Daddy to be there, To see the woman she's become while he was working late, And tell her that he loves her all the same. Now it was just a vision, but I turned that car around, And went back home to where my baby was, And picked her up and held her tight and told her I was there, And took her to her Daddy's work today.