Father’s Day brings memories of my long-gone dad. He was seventy-four when he left this valley of trials and tears.

His was a life of meager education, but bountiful heart.

He supported his wife and seven children by taking buses and the subway to work from 1930 to 1965.

He was a NYC Trainman, Subway Guard, and Transit Police Officer.

He didn’t write, as I do, about life experiences, but he did tell his family about some of them.

I recently wondered what he saw that impacted him, but didn’t share with us.

I wasn’t the only one to wonder.

Today, musings about our dad came to me from my sister, and poet, Mary Winters.

I’d like to share her poem about him in hopes that you, too, may see new reflections in the artifacts of your dad’s life.

My Father’s Eyeglasses

After my dad died

I placed his glasses

in a small metal box,

among other things

I could not bring myself to throw away.

The frames,

a little bent at one temple,

the lenses, smudged

with fingerprints from long ago.

Sometimes,

while looking through the closet,

I come across the box

and open it,

lifting them out carefully,

holding them to the light.

Through those lenses

my father read newspapers

cover to cover,

balanced checkbooks,

fixed what was broken,

and watched his children grow.

They rested on his nose

through weddings and funerals,

doctors’ appointments,

Sunday dinners,

and on ordinary days,

while spending time

beside my mother.

Now they see nothing.

No morning headlines.

No changing seasons.

No grandchildren growing older.

Yet when I hold them,

I find myself looking through them,

wondering how the world appeared to him

from behind those scratched lenses,

what details he noticed,

what worries he carried,

what hopes he kept to himself.

The box closes easily.

The years do not.

And so I will keep his eyeglasses,

not because I need them,

but because they once helped my father

make sense of the world,

and because, one day,

they may help me see

how he saw it.

Our dad, LeRoy Winters

Mary Winters is a Long Island poet who has been writing since 2004.  She is the author of the book Just Between Us, a collection of her poetry.  Mary has been published internationally and domestically and currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board for the Nassau County Poet Laureate Society.  She enjoys writing whimsical poetry about everyday life.

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Be well,

Leebythesea

See my alternate photo essay site: Wherethesundontshine