Dad

for Manfred Walter Kürt Haase

You wear loyalty like the lines you draw—
faithful to their intent,
long and linear through the years,
perspective always in place.

Set out on the drafting table of life,
one begins to see the blueprint of fatherhood:

A structure designed to handle the stress
of youthful winds and pressures,
rooms drawn for safety and provision,
the square footage marked for open dwelling
whose ceiling of paternal love is set high,
whose foundation is the indelible mark
of a graphite line becoming a chalk line
becoming the brick and mortar of a family line—

Lines carried from your brow to your hands
face me in the mirror as I shave
and in the topography of my children…