For When You Ask "Why"

A father, good and patient man,
Whose son was grown at last,
Whose wisdom knew no boundaries,
Whose rearing a son had passed,
He took his son, this father,
And warned him to beware,
For highwaymen and robbers
Were lurking everywhere.
And so the son took to the road;
He left with no regret,
And soon he took for company
Three strangers that he met.
The father, who had followed him,
Knew these men of ill repute.
He watched his son join with them,
Taking travelers for their loot.
One day the son decided
This life was not his role,
And so one night he slipped away
To try to save his soul.
The son, he passed from town to town,
Helping those in need,
Never showing malice,
Never knowing greed.
The father, who had followed him,
Never being seen,
Saw the son had changed his way,
Knew that he was clean.
A day came that the evil men,
While hiding at a bend,
Spied the son upon the road,
Walking with a friend.
The men jumped out and beat him
And stripped him of his clothes.
The friend, who tried to help him,
Was dropped each time he rose,
And once the thieves had done their work,
Back to the woods, they fled.
The father came unto his son
And bandaged where he bled.
The friend cried out in anger,
When he saw the man bore arm,
For he knew the father watched them
When he could have spared them harm.
But then the son recovered,
Took his friend's now trembling hand,
"Before, I would have merely known,
But now I understand."

Richard C. Hayner
July 6, 1982 ©

© 2001 Middle Sea Studios - Richard C. Hayner - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED