JanBeek

Each of us has or had a daddy.
If you’re as fortunate as I,
You had a daddy who could fix things.
Mine could do so … Yup, he was quite a guy!

But I never asked him if he could
Let me come home so he could fix my heart.
I bet if I had done so, he would have said
Just what Janet Riehl’s daddy did… what an art!

How do you heal a broken heart?

For Janet Riehl, my youngest

Dear Daddy,

My dolly, when her arms came off,
You fixed as good as new.
And then you fixed my roller skates,
When they lost a screw.

Each task you did with love and skill,
Was like a work of art.
I’ve got another job for you.
What do you have to heal a broken heart?

Dear Daughter,

Well, Honey—I don’t rightly know.
That’s a bigger job, by far.
You need to crawl up on my lap,
Or listen to my old guitar

There is a song for everything,
Sorting through the pile.
Soft, sad music for the heart break
And some will make you smile.

You always loved with all your heart,
You gave your treasure to a friend.
You gave your heart to careless hands
With heart break at the end.

I cannot change this careless, thoughtless world
Or its people, and the things they do.
Just come on home, and rest awhile;
And be ready when it’s time to start anew.

by  Erwin A. Thompson