Ed: Fatherhood is difficult challenge for anyone who takes it on. Our poet sums up his feelings and compares the journey to that of a glorious mountain climb.
This hill has been climbed a billion times
But still there is no route that takes you
Swiftly to the top,
Avoiding rockslides or the vertical drop
And as I scramble up the shale
my eyes look ahead
But my strength starts to fail
I can’t shake the feeling I’ve been here before
As I slumped to my knees on the floor
So many mistakes
Each forward step
Feels as certain to me as a game of roulette
It’s all I can do to keep smiling and bet
There’s no room for regret
I just hope you forget
All the missteps I took
And that you’ll overlook all that I didn’t know
as you started to grow
Now I see you grow as I struggle for grip
I see you grow while I try not to slip
And you’re growing so tall
You’re growing so clever you’re growing
Like growing will go on forever
And now as I look from the top of the hill
The hairs on my neck stand up with the thrill
Because you are a man
You need me no more
The climbing is done
So I sit on the floor
And watch as you step confidently away
Think of all I have learned since we set out this way
And I realize then
What I’d struggled to see
That the teacher was you
And the pupil was me
And this journey that bought me a son and a friend
Will be etched on my heart till the end of the end
This hill has been climbed a billion times
But while there is no route embrace
The journey to the top
Let love find the way
Because it won’t ever stop
And the view from the peak as the Sun starts to set
Is a view you will never forget a view you will never forget
A view you will never forget.
Now listen to Richard read his poem:
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