My Dad

 by 

A.J. Bailey

My dad taught me many things:

He taught me respect.

He taught me humility.

He taught me honesty.

He taught me sacrifice & perpetual love.

He taught me how to laugh in the face of fate.

He taught me perseverance.

He taught me the danger of anger

And he taught me patience.

I am grateful for all of this.

Most of all, I'm grateful

He taught me to keep close

To God's words.

Along the way,

I found laughter to be empty

Without faith.

I found respect to be empty

Without honesty.

I found sacrifice to be empty

Without humility.

I found perseverance to be empty

Without danger.

I found anger to be empty

Without justice.

I found patience to be empty

Without trust.

I found love to be empty

Without loyalty.

I found myself to be empty

Without Torah.

I found God's words to be full

Without nothing.

Thank you God

Thank you dad

10/4/2022