He was a quiet man. I don’t remember playing with my father or hearing words of praise or love. I don’t remember hugs. But I do remember a few summer mornings each year when I was young. A silent drive to the lake. A long walk out the pier. He’d take a wriggly worm from an old tin can and put it on the end of my bamboo pole. And we’d sit. Just sit. A skinny little girl with giraffe-knobby knees and her whiskered dad, under the rising sun and ever bluing sky. No need for words. No need to catch a thing.
Steadfast sky and sun,
their promise always fulfilled.
Light shall break through clouds.
It’s Haibun Monday at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets, where Toni asks us to write a haibun about the day sky. Thanks Toni. Your prompt brought back this cherished memory.
lillian the home poet 
I do love the prose here… a wonderful memory, and I can recognize those silent men, but we were in comfort with that… love the sense of no need to catch a thing…
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I wonder sometimes if it wasn’t his generation — were they all more silent?
So glad you enjoyed.
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I am s happy it did. It is indeed a cherished memory and I thank you for sharing it with us. No need for words…No need to catch a thing….wonderful words.
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He was a special man. 🙂
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That’s a lovely memory to cherish. Sounds like he was as steadfast as the sky and sun himself.
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Indeed. A very special man.
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Yes, light always breaks through! I love the bamboo pole image – so Japanese 😉 That generation of men were pretty oblivious of their kids. The children of the parents who survived the depression – not quite integrated beings. But what a lovely daughter he created who is definitely integrated and grateful for what he did do. Beautiful work, as always.
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Oh Victoria. What a lovely reply. Thank you!
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My pleasure, Lillian!
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A gorgeous treasured memory, Lillian. Thank you so much for sharing it. I love the image of you as ‘a skinny little girl with giraffe-knobby knees’.
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Ah….you should see the old black and white photos! 🙂
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This is so heartfelt..❤ love the line ‘no need for words.. no need to catch a thing’ such a precious memory 🙂 he sounds like he was as steadfast and calm as the sky itself. Sigh thank you so much for sharing ❤
Lots of love,
Sanaa
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Ah Sanaa….I always treasure your replies and hearts! 🙂
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So touching, and real.
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Thank you, Nan.
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What a nice heartfelt story. There are times when silence says so much more than words.
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I so agree! ❤️
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A silent drive, long walk…no need for words. This was priceless Lillian.
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So very glad you enjoyed. He was quite special.
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All Dads are:)
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Beautiful! ❤
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome! 🙂
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Oh.. the quiet fathers…
with the green
of sunshine eyes
that sparkle in lake
day memories for
me.. and
one day on
his dock.. a
father drown
off a boat only
yards from uS..
and sadly i had to
wonder would i miss
a daddy.. i never got to
kNow/feeL.. from lips that
could not express
emoTions
@ALL..
except
that one
now when
his decades old
cat died that he
called Son.. anyway..
decades later as we all
do with parents if the child does
live long enough.. i did miss him..
particularly.. the fAct he wouldn’t
let me feel who he was inside ever
no matter how hard i tried.. and sure
enough.. eventuAlly.. i figured out.. i too..
could be like him.. too.. if enough stress
came like his in law enforcement for 46
years to take
the feelings
away.. later..
oh.. the environment
of love.. makes or breaks
a word of Love..
lesSon lEarned
for/by me.. my
friEnd..
to always
say i Love.
and so much more..
no longer speechless at
age 4.. no longer stuttering
in middle school.. and no longer
dead and mute from stress in middle
age..
Words
go…
SOn..:)
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Oh my…..this is an amazing reply my friend. I’ve read it several times. I think there are some people who simply do not know how to be expressive with words. As I know with my father, love shines through in many ways.
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Thanks my friEnd..
Even science shows now..
The heart IS A Love muscle
That can grow like the
Grinch HeArt and more..
Perhaps.. than 10 x 10
More with a practice
Of PoEtry..
Connecting
Emotions
With words
And Dance
Connecting
Music of
Emotions
From head
To toe in mind
And body balancing
Spirit that SinGs a Recipe
For Fearless Loving SoUL
And for
Now that’s
aLL i
TrUly FeeL
As LiGht oF
LiFe Of LoVe..
Thanks Lillian..
WiTh sMiLes More
Of
LoVe..:)
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“No need for words. No need to catch a thing.” What a lovely memory of just being… with your dad and with nature. What a sweet, powerful description you’ve painted of your dad.
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Thank you. So glad you enjoyed! Smiling I am.
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Oh, how wonderful! A beautiful memory makes an exceptionally beautiful piece of writing.
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Thank you so much, Rosemary!
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Verbosity ran in my family; non-stop dynamic communication. I never really experienced the taciturn–but I never knew my real father; your haiku is killer, & your memory is wonderful.
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Funny — I must have secretly been born to your family as I am very verbal and my parents were not! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
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“their promise always fulfilled.” — this line speaks to me about these silent acknowledgements, from your memory of time with your father, and in that sky. In many indigenous creation stories the sky is representative of the father of us all. Beautiful, I feel like this line connects the memory of father and the sky so well, maybe even unconsciously. Thanks for sharing.
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This is exactly right. Although my father was very very quiet and what one would call undemonstrative (no hugs, no “I love you”), I knew he loved me…that promise of love from father to child was always fulfilled. Similar in the haiku that the promise of the sky is always fulfilled. You found this connection 🙂
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Wonderful memories encapsulated here so well. Silent men – yes, I have known and still know many. They are the deepest and the best.
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Smiling I am 🙂
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beautiful memory…this picture will stay!
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Our loved ones do indeed live on in our memories. And thank goodness for photographs too!
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the strong silent type a perfect companion to such a day of fishing – letting in a lot of light with your lovely haiku
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So glad you enjoyed, Laura. He was a special man.
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That ability to simply sit, without the need of words, or even the need to catch…that’s a sign of comfort and love. Beautiful!
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Exactly! So glad you enjoyed.
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This is beauty, Lillian. Memories of fathers run the gamut, and this one captures a moment that sounds cherished. No need for words. No need to catch a thing. Just be together.
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What a sweet memory. Even if there were no words, there was obviously love and fondness.
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There was indeed😊
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This is very familiar to my own father. Completely understand this one.
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Sometimes I think it was the generation. How I wish I’d sat him down and done an oral history with him — asked him questions and recorded his memories. I miss his quietness.
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I think you’re probably right, and I miss my father, too. Often.
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Sometimes words are simply not required…. beautiful little memory!
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Exactly! 🙂
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This is such a common story from our past generation. Expressing feelings came in provision not affection!
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