He wonders quietly sometimes,
How do I become a father
when no one showed me how?
How do I learn patience
when anger was louder than love?
How do I stay
when walking away
is all I have ever seen?
Fatherhood can feel heavy
in hands still learning
what strength really means.
Not strength that shouts,
but strength that stays.
Strength that listens,
works hard,
comes home,
tries again tomorrow.
Some young men carry fears
they rarely speak aloud –
fear of failing,
fear of repeating the past,
fear that they cannot give
something better
than what they received.
A good father is not perfect.
He is present.
And sometimes the strongest fathers
are the ones
who had to build themselves
without an example –
then chose to become one
for someone else.
