Fight The Dawn

An Abstract Legacy

I waited my whole life to know you
Raised by the waves and rocks
The wolves and lions
Held by the hidden wind
Shaped by the prisonous mountains

Knowing only
Her that I grew from
Her that loved me
More than herself
And yet
I held every breath
For you

You who
Never knew me
Who could
Not have known me
The curse
  Or Blessing
Of being a man
The unknown gift
  Or misfortune
Of being a father

Maybe that is
The necessity
Of it all
The cruel juxtaposition
Of life, and
Maybe that is

What it means
To be a man
What it means
To be a soldier
What it means
To sail from home
What it means
To be disposable

Great men like fragile dominos
Standing in those harvest lines
Falling in ripe swaths to the
Reaper's scythe—Never knowing
The field of flowers
They have left behind

This anemone grew
Under the shade of Motherhood
Seeking the sun of his Father
And when I found you
You mistook me for an enemy
And cut yourself down
On my sharp blade of truth

So I continue now
Not in your name
But in the name
Given by my mother
To break the cycle
Of disjointed sons