Iola Zaan

Our Wonderful Dad

I recall at the age of approximately four
That I skipped by your side to the grocery store
And I said to you, "I found out we are rich"
"The poor little match-girl wears hardly a stitch"
"Her feet are all bare and she lives on the street"
"We are about to buy food and have shoes on our feet"
And all these years on I was astonished to find
That that simple moment has stayed in your mind
For the truth at that time was that money was tight
But you and our Mom had your priorities right

You're such a good father and not only to me
I know without doubt that my brothers agree
We look back at the times you would tell made-up tales
And summertime trips to your homeland in Wales
You helped with our studies being so smart and well-read
So much information is stored in your head
And if there were games that you couldn't afford
You made them yourself including the board

You made the oldest a game that you crafted with care
Not only a pitch but the football teams there
And each player's team-strip was painted by hand
And each player stood on his own special stand
You made me a jewel-box in white painted wood
It had music inside like a jewellery box should
The youngest played soldiers so you made him a tank
Worth much more to him than some coins in a bank

Dad, you were always concerned at what your wage could provide
Yet the treasures you gave us, they came from inside
You gave us the things that don't get broken or torn
Or damaged or weathered or battered or worn
So now we are talking of love and of help and of time
We return to the child at the start of this rhyme
The pre-schooler girl who though we were the elite
Because we lived in a house and we covered our feet
She is all grown up now and would like me to say
Dad, we found out we are rich in a different way

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LEST WE FORGET

On barren land on western field
Where only sadness war can yield
On battle sites where none had grown
In fact the bravest seeds were sewn

The growing seeds marked out the plots
So fate could choose by drawing lots
Each man and boy to lay down their lives
As a sacrifice so we might live and thrive

Whilst the earth tended her plants of scarlet shade
We listed fallen men in case their crosses fade
Each name a fleeting memory of our own nation's pride
But the earth remembered every man on either side

Men from each nation missing and never found
All those unknown soldiers taken by the ground
The soil knew them all and was planning a parade
To show all were accounted for and none had been mislaid

The earth grieved that many of her sons were dead
She cried floral tears for every man in vibrant red
She sends flowers every year, she hasn't missed one yet
Poppies bloom forever for each man, lest we forget

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They're quite uncomfortable alone
It's in a group they feel at home
It makes us squirm when one slips out
Or feels the need to make one shout

There are some that think they're really great
Some used in anger and some in hate
Some that think they're really cool
Some that like to break the rules

Some we say just for a laugh
Some we can only spell by half
Some misunderstood or turned around
The ones we search that can't be found

Some can make us look a fool
Whilst some are wielded as a tool
Best are those that can express
Our love, our joy and happiness

Some dipped in poison, some uttered in haste
Some of them jesters, some just bad taste
Some are dressed up, some cloaked in veils
Attempting to hide what their intention entails

Some show compassion in the struggles of life
Comforting others through hardship and strife
Some count our blessings, whether many or few
Some have one meaning while others have two

There are fiercer types, and the ones that we tame
To wrap up a feeling or extinguish a flame
To package a message tied up with a bow
To share information our loved ones should know

Some with precision can show that we care
To whisper support, to confirm we are there
Some are shared freely without holding back
Providing the warmth that the silence can lack

Carefully chosen with the caution deserved
They can tell our story with the moral preserved
If we choose them with care before written or said
We won't need a picture to express them instead

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Heaven - Invitation Only

You climbed this stairway once before
That day you knocked on heaven's door
They answered "No, it's not your time"
"Just go back down and you'll be fine"

They knew in heaven what you'd gone through
That disease had stolen part of you
The types of pain you had to bear
Those chemo drugs that took your hair

The angels watched in full dismay
As you tried to take your pain away
You had new parts when you awoke
To replace the ones that you had broke

Heaven's reception told you there simply wasn't room
They'd lots of tiny baby souls waiting for a womb
Was it just that more went in than numbers coming out?
Or did they mend you at the gates as you were having doubt?

Surely heaven could have found a space?
For such a person with such good faith
Surely they could just have let you in?
Squeezed up a bit, with you being thin?

Was it their opinion that there was more for you to do
Or maybe it related to your loved ones needing you
Was it that they noticed you weren't written on the list
Could it be instead that they knew you would be missed

It seems heaven in your case was by invitation only
Not if driven to despair and not if feeling lonely
Not related to this illness, or if life just fell apart
Not when you were grieving or aching in the heart

Perhaps your time on earth was just not fully done
Or just too many folk would prefer you hadn't gone
All of us were glad to hear you must await your call
For extra time with you became a great gift for us all

The angels were delighted that they'd made you come back down
They saw that you've been happy, only rarely would you frown
We have to say in honesty we wanted you to stay
And yes, the cancer did remit, for years it went away

And now you've seen your sons more grown
And held the babes you would not have known
And touched the lives again of those you love
And all in Heaven were smiling from above

But now the angels call you to invite you there
You say, "once I doubted God, so how can I prepare"?
They tell you "have no fear, for you haven't been disowned"
"We'll pick you up this time, and take you safely home"

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We asked all the angels to take you from harm,
So now you sleep soundly, all peaceful and calm
But oh how we miss you, our loss is their gain
There's sunshine in heaven but on earth only rain
We lost someone close we have known many years
We are under dark clouds, drowning in tears

Then just as we are wondering however we'll cope
There appears in the heavens a rainbow of hope
Then we realise that those that we love never die
We can bring them to life in our minds if we try
And the times that are spent making memories that last
Become gifts we receive from our loved ones who've passed

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