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This poem was written for a slam poetry contest in my poetry class.

It was the second time I'd seen him since the surgery.

He'd seemed the same since the day I'd met him...but almost weaker.

He was a delicate little flower on the inside, but hard as a diamond on the outside.

You see, Pa is your typical hardass.

He's not the type to admit when hes in pain but I can see it in his eyes and it hurts me in my heart.

I admire him though.

This man has the scars of two strokes and a heart attack on his back and only now has he realized

that his body is growing older leaving his mind behind.

It takes him a little bit longer to stand up but when he does you can see everything he stands for.

You can see in his bright blue eyes that he's not going to stop just because the skin he's in might be a little worn.

So on that second day, I sit on the patio with him and my father listening to them talk.

My vision of him is blocked by the vibrant umbrella in between us

but that doesn't mean my ears aren't looking at his voice intently. And I hear him say

"Life goes by to fast; people don't take time to stop and look. Two free shows a day ya just gotta be there lookin' at it."

The way those words and syllables were strung together blew my mind in that it was the most incredible way I've ever heard a sunset described.

So yes, Pa is a hardass and even if you ask him he wouldn't tell you but every now and then he let's something exquisitely poetic slip.

But you have to pay attention because the words only linger there for a split second and then they're gone in the wind.