Blue Mountain Arts Poetry Contest

A Son
by Seth Honda

THirty-SIXth
Contest
Third Place

One day my son will come up to me,
Just as I am walking out the door.
He will tug on my shirt and look up at me.
With his tiny little hands filled tight with cloth,
My son will ask me,
“Daddy, where are you going?”

I will pick him up in my arms and tell him,
I will be back before supper,
And to have a great time with his momma
Because God knows I would never leave a boy waiting,
And waiting,
And waiting,
For someone who will never come back.

One day my son will look up to me
Just as his eyes close.
He will tug on my shirt and pull me down.
With his tiny little hands filled tight with cloth,
My son will ask me,
“Daddy are there monsters in my closet?”

I will smile at him,
And shut the closet door before climbing in bed with him.
I will tell my son
That the only monsters in your closet
Are the ones you put there.
And that yes, those may be the most scary,
But it means you are able to get rid of them.

Then, I will tell him stories of great men,
Of superheroes.
I will teach my son bravery.

I will teach him that no matter the monsters in his closet,
There are not any he cannot vanquish
For he is brave.

One day my son will come up to me,
Just as I kiss his mommy.
He will tug on my shirt and look up.
With his tiny little hands filled tight with cloth,
My son will ask me,
“Daddy what is love?”

I will smile,
Sit down on the couch,
And beckon him over to my knee.

I will gather his tiny hands in mine,
And I will tell him,
Love is beautiful,
Love is rare and pretty,
Love is difficult.
Love is the feeling of warmth that shoots from the bottoms of your feet
To the top of your head.
The tingles that spread from the base of your neck,
And radiate throughout your body.
“It is the feeling that I had when I met your mommy,
And it is the feeling I have had every day since.”

I will glance over at her,
And she will look at me,
A smile on her face,
The kind of smile that made me fall in love.

I will teach my son what love is,
What *true* unconditional love is.

I will teach him that when he loves,
He is to love with all of his being.

I will teach him that love,
Reciprocated or unrequited,
Is beautiful.

One day my son will come up to me,
Just as I arrive home from work.
He will place his hand on my shoulder,
And look me in the eye,
And while his are full of tears,
My son will ask me,
“How do I deal with the pain?”
That is when I will take out the ice cream and poetry books
Because men’s hearts break too.

I will teach him that any heartbreak can be fixed with a little bit of poetry and some ice cream--
Or that most heartbreaks can be fixed with a little bit of poetry and some ice cream.

For any that cannot be solved by those things,
I hand him my watch.
I tell him to watch the seconds pass
Because there is nothing that time will not wash away.

I teach him to not linger on the minutes past,
But live each individual second as if it was his last.

One day my son will come up to me
Just as he walks in the door,
He will fall to his knees and look up.
And whilst staring at his empty hands
With tears falls down his face,
My son will ask me,
“Dad... why can’t I save all of them?”

This question I will not be able to answer,
Because I know that he will chase after all the broken ones,
All the children in the rye,
The children that are falling off the cliff.
And he will watch them fall
As he stands there helpless.

I will teach my son that not everyone that needs catching
Can be caught,
That the velocity a person reaches after a certain amount of pain
Is a velocity too great to be stopped with “I love yous.”

I will teach him that no amount of hugs or kisses will be able to halt the descent,
Only slow it.

One day my son will come up to me
Just as my eyes close for the last time,
He will tug on my shirt and look up.
With his large hands filled tight with cloth,
My son will ask me,
“Where are you going?”
He will know the answer to that question
So he will ask me one more,

“Why?”

I will have taught my son how to trust,
How to love,
How to live,
And how to let go.
So my job will have been done.

Without hesitation I will smile,
And I will answer with five words,
“Because I love you, Son.”

About the Author

Seth is a freshman at Creighton University where he studies biology. Despite his interest in science, he has always had a passion for writing and ended up writing his first poems in the third grade. Since then, Seth has finished his first book, for all the stars, and has begun his second one.