My Father's Field and Stream
I woke up this morning from a dream.
On the coffee table, I saw a magazine -
my father's Field and Stream,
and I remembered how he wanted to take me to a place
he went with his own father
in an earlier time and space,
to nature's rugged, wild Elysian fields,
where boys and men could bond,
like a page and knight with sword and shield.
So, he took me to the mountains, beautiful and free,
and I wanted to go there with him,
but my imprisoned eyes couldn't see.
My father's field and stream, you see,
was not a place, but a state of mind,
and I could not go there by decree.
I was not the kind of boy or man
my dad wanted me to be.
He didn't know what was obvious to me.
Between my mom, my brothers and I,
the verdict was decided,
"Entirely unfit", they would all decry.
I was unworthy, and I was weak,
I wasn't one of the Hardy boys,
and felt much more like a freak.
I wish that I could have joined you, Dad,
in those fields and streams,
to share together the experience you had,
and I am ready to join you in nature's high,
but it's too late for us.
You're in the Field and Streams of the sky.
Copyright ©
David Crandall
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