We can learn kindness from living and seeing hate and violence.
Father's eyes and anger
Is my Father's eyes and anger. Are they mine now?
I told you. I love you. I need you.
Love should bring calm and peace.
Violence. A hidden demon. Can strike without thought.
Sweet friend. Kind lover. Did you see the monster?
I tried to lock the demon up. He tried to escape.
I must walk away for a moment. Deep breathes and counting to ten.
My world is falling apart. Like my Father's world did. He took the bad road. Pissed off and violence.
I will keep quiet. Do my best to stay strong. Ain't easy when your world is falling down around you.
We need kind words. We need a lot of patience. A lot of love and forgiveness.
I will pray to the God of life and death Give me wisdom and strength.
Coyote 7 Feb 1989
My Father
When I look into the mirror. Do I see you my father?
Have I become what I despised all my life? Have my eyes. Your violence become mine?. Everyday I learn more loss. Loss of dreams. Lost of desires.
Will I become like you? Give up. Show spirit only when I'm violence or excited?
Can I stop my journey to man-hood? My eyes from hiding tears. Gentleness.
Have I travel too far? Is the blood too strong?
Am I destine to hurt everyone? I have loved.
If I chose my own road. Why do I follow my father sadness.
Coyote 27 April 1989
Sins of the fathers
My father fought in wars. Killed in battle that expanded to the real world.
He was a Mexican/Ojibwa man with no place to go. Hated for his color and race.
He demanded respect and never allow anyone to look down at him. His anger and violence controlled his mind and heart.
He told me. "You will get a education and make them respect you. I won't allow you to live my life."
My father watched me succeed. He told me often. "Don't allow my sins to become your sins. I have killed, done bad things. You must overcome the sins of your father."
Now I have lived a good life. "My father's sins made me go in the right direction. Sins of our father's need to teach us a better way."
He asks me once. "Remember son. You must pray for me. Children must pray for their parent to be allow to find peace."
I pray he is with his Soldier brother's in paradise. Drinking to a good day. I believe a kind God forgive the sins of men lost in the turmoil of hate and prejudice.
The sin of our father's must teach us the better road.
I've always had issues with my father but legally I cannot talk about that until my censorship ends in 2014. This really made me sit up and think about so many things.
Thank you ever so much for publishing this, very well written my friend :)
THE FIRST ONE...
HAD ME NEAR TO TEARS...
IT WAS BEAUTIFUL...
THE SECOND ONE...
I CAN UNDERSTAND YOUR WORDS...
THEY ARE WORRIED...
BUT...
WITH LOVE ALL IN THE SAME...
THE LAST ONE...
IT IS SO TRUE...
IT SPEAKS TO ME...
IT IS SORT OF SAD...
BUT...
I LOVE IT...
THEY ARE ALL AMAZING...
I wasn't even looking for mistakes your words flowed so well and you can feel the underlying pain in the words.
Great poetry Coyote always a pleasure to read your work
This was so moving, I felt sad and yet also excited for your ability to press on as an individual with your father in your thoughts and memories but on a different road to the one he took. You portrayed your thoughts well, beautiful write.
I love the emotion, and how each poem follows from the last. The father and son connection is a strong one, no matter what the emotion. We are all at least half of our father, but it is a different chapter of the same book. I really enjoyed this writing Coyote. I like that many of your writings are from years ago, some of them from before I was born!
Very expressive, emotive, and descriptive..We inherit but through the strenght of the Holy Spirit we can overcome and be what God would desire us to be...We have that anger there for a reason but it has to controlled like a horse with bit and bridle.....Sunflower
The second one, "My Father", really struck home to me. For me though, it was my mother and I fight every day to try not to become like she was. Its difficult though, because when you grow up with someone you learn their behavior, it becomes embedded in you, you have to make a lot of effort not to become what they were. But its possible.
"The sin of our father's must teach us the better road" you said in your third poem. I have hear no truer words. Excellent poems Coyote. Great work, great messages.
A Poet and writer who love to read and write.
My pleasure is reading about the bad and good in a life.
Also to honor the Poets/Writers of the past by reading their words.
Remember .. more..