Dad means coming home

Dad.

The word that often starts at fear, but ends in relief. 

It provides protection that is invisible. 

You just always knew it

and felt it. 

It was always there.


Because when that word is spoken.

it feels like the worst things are okay.

Like every storm slows down. 

Every tornado pauses. 

Every fire mutes itself for a minute. 

And every flood drains. 


It’s words that have magic. 

“Dad!” for one. 

“Everything would be okay, son!” for another. 

that changes the ferocity of events without changing
anything. 


The storm still has its fury.

The tornado still wrenches its guts. 

The fire waits to roar again and the

flood will flood any second now. 

But time has stopped. 

You’re safe. 

Shielded by something invisible. 


You can’t tell what it is

Or where it comes from

Or that it’s even there

or was there

Till it happens. 


“Dad!”

isn’t a cry for help. 
It’s finding your way home. 


“It’s gonna be okay!”

doesn’t make everything okay. 

But it makes things okay.


When dad says it’s gonna be okay.

It isn’t always the truth. 

But it is

the truth. 




Wrote this manifesto for a project. It got shot down as too serious and heavy. Fair enough. I'm still proud of it. 

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