To the Artist's Page                    To our home page

To Jonathan Penton's previous piece     To Jonathan Penton's next piece

Lithium

Parenthood has not made me saner
Lithium hasn’t made me a better parent.
A few years ago, I thought I could fix things.
I just wanted you to know I know better now.

You are too short to loke me in the eye
So you look up to me
And gaze at me directly
Even though your mother won’t.
This is more that I can take. You have picked
The wrong person to romanticize.
Sooner or later you will learn better.

Now you will be an only child
There’s nothing more than I can do for you
I guess I could give you half-brothers and half-sisters
But what of that, and what of them
Would you think I loved them more than I love you

I can’t be with you every day
You might learn to live without a father
Perhaps your mother can find you a new dad somewhere
But what of that, and what of him
Would you grow to love him more than you love me

So I’ll stand over here for now
Still I know you are lonlier than I
No one will blame you if you become an angry child
But what of that, and what of you
Would you believe I did everything I could

One skill I’ve learned
I can forgive any sin.
You may need such grace someday.

To the top of this page