From a woman who wanted the Nat King to my Natalie
But got a flawed imperfect real human being who died when I was just thirteen
And just when I thought that was it, my brothers, friends, uncles and others reminded me that I was not alone
Thank you to each and every single one.
Thank you most of all to Benjamin.

This poem is for the ones who call collect
And the ones who collect calls
For the ones who rose to the pulpits
And the ones the pits pulled
For the Pray Tells
And the ones who told me when I was prey

For the Cliffs who jutted out over the Bills
For the ones who arrive faithfully at 6pm to fulfill daily duties
To the ones who fly in on a whim to soothe during calamity
For the girl dads
For the grill dads
For the dads of girls with grills

This is an honoring
Deserving or lacking
This is for the lessons intended
And the warnings delivered
For the top of the shoulder hoists at rallies
And the rescues of mother souls from valleys

For the fore, bio, step, god, and grand
For the sore, broken, worn, and working with hands
For the mos and the def
For the ghosts and the meths
For the ones here in June
And the ones gone by noon

We will pray for you
We will ask God to make a way for you
We will find all your talent and all your good
We will lift the amazing possibilities
We will celebrate your fathering and cultivate fatherhood