You Were Wrong, Dad

I’d follow in Dad’s footsteps, he presumed. Post-college, I would join the company Great Grandpa founded. As the future loomed, I had to drop the bomb: “Dad, try to see it's MY life; I have chosen forestry." I still recall his vitriolic rant: “You’ll be a dismal failure, wait and see. Succeed without MY leadership? You can’t. You’re going nowhere fast. Someday you’ll be rock bottom. Don’t come crawling back to me!” Dad can’t believe I’m happy with my life. He sees me as a failure to this day! Perhaps he thinks I hide heartache and strife, results of having chosen my own way! September 18, 2020 Poetry Contest Title: The Fourth Floor of Nowhere received NA on September 21, 2020 Date: September 29, 2020 Contest Title: Second Chance Sponsor: Chantelle Anne Cooke October 1, 2020 Contest: Your Best Unacclaimed Poem Sponsor: John Hamilton May 2, 2021 entered in Carolyn Devonshire's Footsteps Contest