"Words Instead" (poem) ... Advice from a Father to his Daughter (Her 16th Birthday Gift)
What ought a father give to his daughter for her 16th birthday, that ever-so-important line of demarcation between childhood and adulthood?
I bought mine nothing.
Instead, I wrote her a poem … hence the poem’s title, “Words Instead.” She says it is the most memorable gift she’s ever received. I once did the same for my mother’s and father’s respective birthdays and the response was, by an order of magnitude, more appreciative than any prior gifts upon which I’d spent hundreds of dollars apiece.
The Age of Consumerism has turned us all into … consumers. We buy it, break it, then throw it away. A thing’s value is naught but its cost of replacement. But what if a thing’s value is so abstract that it cannot be determined by competing bid-ask prices or the laws of supply and demand? What if it can't be replaced because it was singular in its distinction? This is a conundrum that many find vexing as such thing's value could be anywhere between ‘worthless’ and ‘priceless.’
Ideas, ideals and insights are the pinnacles of such abstractions.
So, what ought a father give to his daughter for her 16th birthday, that ever-so-important line of demarcation between childhood and adulthood? What she'll need most in the years ahead.
Advice.
Poetry can make wonderful gifts
She appreciated it and that means you have raised her right. :)
They let you in the poetry circles LOL???
No, I came in the backdoor when no one was looking. :P
LOLZ!
This was such a sweet act. I can imagine how much appreciative she must have felt! The presentation is sublime: it is as if they were the ten commandments of life. I mean, they truly are. Sound advice from a father! Of course that it is the most memorable gift she has received! It does sound like commandments that could be inscribed or printed and be taken forever with her :)
Nice comments :)
@poetrybyjeremy, Jeremy, now that's what I call a Comment! Thanks so much. She and I are very close and these are all things we've discussed a million times (in prose). So, I thought I'd put them into verse for the sake of making them memorable. Her friends love it as well, and one asked her Dad to write such a poem for her. He's ... over-whelmed ... by the challenge but I'm helping him along.
haha! you must be other dad's nightmares... until you help. I see it as totally marketable; it is really a great gesture and it is priceless.
And regards to what a comment really is - this is an example of how to connect with people. Definitely, a more real comment than WOW Thank you good job.
Beautiful and wise words.
@owasco,
Thank you. I'm actually going to turn it into a book. Each of the ten quatrains will be blown up into a poem of its own and I will write a chapter (in prose) about the experiences I've had that lead me to come to such conclusions.
Quill
Hey you broke 20 cents on all your poems now :)...
Along with @prydefoltz I also brought over another poet, @westley-nash. He is just getting going on here and Im sure would love to mutually support you. Would you be so kind to check out his page :) If you stop over my page from time to time I will remember to stop over :)
Welcome to Steemit
@old-guy-photos, thanks a million! I'm was browsing through @prydefoltz's feed last night and I'll take a look at @westley-nash's later today. I'll check out yours as well. And, if you know anyone else, don't be shy ... I'm a sociable fellow.
BTW: I see by your handle that you're trying to milk the "old guy" thing. Me too. Wisdom comes with age and its worth something. These 20-somethings comments: "... you don't know what GitHub is!!!"
Snotty-nosed bastards.
I have a video of my straight-A daughter with her straight-A friends trying to light a campfire, with perfectly dry wood, an ENTIRE bottle of lighter fluid and a barb-a-que lighter ... and they still failed. Time for some push-back.
Yes Sir you are are correct. I have to say I am pleasantly surprised there are way more older dudes here than I thought would be. In fact I have a tag #oldtimers you can post any of your content to...Some decent folk post to it as well.
There is a lot to learn here, so feel free to ask for help. Stop by anytime!
@quillfire, WOW! Incredible poem!
WOW! WOW! WOW!
I'm Following!
@savagekathryn, Hi Honey. Full Disclosure ... Kathryn is my daughter, the subject of the poem and the model in the picture. Love you.
And thanks for the Up-Vote and Follow (as if you had a choice).
Absolutely breath-taking, i was so carried away... im really touched... words gat power bro... Its just beautiful, i so love it, i've saved it already... and resteemed, every one should see this...
@elpadjo, thanks mate.
I've written a lot of poems, but, as you can imagine, this one is special. My daughter and I are very close ... and a daughter's 16th birthday, well, you'd like that one to stand out in her memory as she grows older. (If there are any dolphins or whales out there ... you would earn One Hell of Friendship for making this one pop. I may be a minnow now ... but I have words. This will not always be the case.)
There's something going on here on Steemit that I don't think a lot of people fully appreciate ... our words, that is: our ideas, ideals and insights, are becoming immortal. The blockchain will preserve them for eternity. Now, in all likeliness, they will get buried in obscurity. But maybe not. That realization is in the back of my mind with every post and comment I make. Will, someday, my daughter or granddaughter find my words and hold their head high thinking, "That's my Dad" ... or will they hang their head in shame thinking, "That's my dad." Words preserve our essence. Shakespeare's bones have long turned to dust, yet his words will echo in our ears forever.
you are so right, its like leaving foot prints in the concrete of time... gud job bro.
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STOPWow! What a wonderful poem! She'll be treasuring it for the rest of her life. My dad wrote me something similar for my 18th birthday and it was the best gift I ever received. Twenty years later down the road, it's still the most touching gift.
A daughter's love for her dad knows her distance and it doesn't fade with the passage of time.
I thought I just have to say...this or that...but reading through the comments already made, they've spoken the words you inspired in me.
I am particularly touched that your daughter had the confidence to make an appearance.
I hope that families like yours continue to remind others of how precious families are, for in many places families are dying out as units worth belonging to.
I enjoy good poetry, so I will be following.
EDIT: I just went to look at your .com site...
You make a living from your poetry! Now that is something really special!
Bravo.