Saturday, 9 November 2013

A note on a fine man


I wouldn’t have written this some year ago. But a year is quite a long time to change, and reconsider values in life. A lot changed in my life in the past year. And I have to say that just like it changed me in a bad way, it also caused many positive changes in my personality. And this is exactly what my father told me one not-that-typical Wednesday afternoon: this is gonna change you. Either in a bad or good meaning of the word, but THIS is gonna change you... in a way... And again my father was right. As almost always.

This below is dedicated to my dad. Now on the treshold of my quarter-of-a-century age I see things differently. I can see that what I considered to be a reckless money spending was in fact a generosity. A pessimist and a negative talk was in fact a realist view of a contemporary society. A sometimes crude and harsh behaviour targeted on me was just a plain desire to show me that the world will not treat me nicely and that I should better learn how to cope with it now. And that his insensitive mask he was wearing since I can remember was merely his attempt to disguise his vulnerability.

He knows humans, their very nature and that makes him pessimist about them. Many people disappointed him in his life, many ended up to be traitors, hypocrites, and calculative swines. But despite all this his belief in people’s kindness and goodness sustained. He still believes in good friends and family who would not let him down. He believes that there still is a minority of good people in the world who despite the cruelty of the society are still not extinct. They are somewhere and it’s worth believing in them. If nothing else, it gives one hope. And my father is very hopeful. Despite all the pessimism, he keeps his hope in people.

As the time goes on I can see myself in him more and more. Personal traits I once couldn’t stand are now my characteristics – and it is because I had always been like him, I just didn’t respect myself, that is why it wasn’t possible for me to respect him. Everyday I discover some more things about me that I have seen before in my father. And what was before unacceptable, is now very welcome. I like myself for what I am now. I don’t hate myself for what I was then, it is a part of growing up. And it’s never too late, is it?

I thank him for showing me what is important in life. What matters. What I want to become, and what I don’t. And I hope one day in far and distant future I will look in a mirror and the wise wrinkles on my old face will resemble those of my dad.


To My Dad

I see the glimpse of my five year old smile
Your hair being black back in the times
When prices were low and hopes were high
Though future was bluer than the skies.
Look at this photo where you and me
Both of us look like catchers in the rye.
Now everything’s changed since ninety three,
Once glass is broken, there’s no point to cry.

Ten years from that I was neither Holden,
Nor my first cigarette made me look cool,
Words from my mouth were nothing near golden,
You must have thought I was a crowned fool.
I didn’t write down your wisdom pearls,
And was still lacking eight tooth in a row,
I thought you just didn’t understand girls
With my defiance I made you my foe.

A decade passed by in the blink of an eye
We fought many battles of frogs and mice.
The truth reveals what seemed to be a lie,
What’s been here all time comes as a surprise.
I know it’s designed, it’s not a mere chance
That our cardgame was played with agression.
I guess we are made of the same substance
And both of us needed to make a progression.

I want to trade the hostility for gratitute
And want to express my deepest regret
That it took me ten years to review my attitude
And to fully grasp what you have meant.
Now I can see why you hate stinginess,
For I wanna be generous as much as I can
To be hopeful each day and show my gratefulness,
And just like you, to become a good man. 

No comments:

Post a Comment