Had it With You!

And, I’ve had your babies,
vacuumed your floors,
knitted you sweaters.
Washed your shirts
and your towels;
my speciality, changing
them from white
to varying shades
of the spectrum.

For forty years
have travelled with you;
weathered your gales
and tornados – bathed
in the afterglow
of halcyon days,
talked you through
those bourbon
and whisky nights
and give us a break
lazy afternoons.

Seen you change
from a fresh-faced
young boy
who lived life
in the fast lane,
to a cynical
been there and done that –
best do it my way,
choleric, old-timer,
leering at the haze
of fast-passing days
like a through-train
at a station...

Danced to your drum
till my feet
are torn and blistered...
been with you – places
no parents should go...
wept together with you
at the foot of an olive tree –
embodies our daughter,
and the answer
to your question
is a thousand times, yes.
Of course I still love you,
you crazy, but wonderful,
tumbledown shack
of a man
that you are.