My father fixed things.
MALIK adisa@adisamalik-5611
26 days ago
My father fixed things.
Not with speeches.
Not with money he did not have.
With his hands.
The gate that leaned left since the rains.
The tap that coughed before it gave water.
The chair leg that cracked
under the weight of a cousin
who ate like he was storing for winter.
He fixed them all on Saturdays
in shorts and old slippers,
a toolbox that was mostly
a plastic bag with pliers in it.
I never thanked him.
Nobody thanks the man
who fixes what is broken
before anyone notices it was breaking.
He is older now.
His knees do not bend
the way they used to.
The pliers are in a real toolbox now
because I bought him one
for a birthday I almost forgot.
Last Saturday I went to his house
and fixed his kitchen tap.
He stood behind me
and said nothing
but I heard him swallow
the way men swallow
when they are proud
but the word is too heavy
to lift in front of their sons.
Papa, I learned.
Not from your words.
From your hands.
#Poetry #Fatherhood #Love #AfricanPoetry #BlackFathers #WritersOfNircle #Family #Gratitude #SpokenWord #MenWhoFeel
14 days ago