Like a servant who must serve a Sire
only for a wage not for praise
Like a servant who must serve a Lord
he must only be seen not heard
Like a servant who must kowtow to an owner
he must be there even when nobody is there
Like a servant who must be on daily guard
it’s granted he must be taken for granted
Like a servant who must wait on a superior
he must learn to be superbly inferior
Like a servant who must minister to a bona fide Minister
he must open executive doors and shut residential gates
Like a servant who must please a paymaster
he must avail himself on the daily roster
Like a servant who must answer to a Boss
he must stand to attend no matter the cost
Like a servant who must be used by a bully
he must always be of use or be abused
Like a servant who earned no token of respect from a Bosun
he must be forsaken for being mistaken
He must be forgotten…a slave good for nothing
So are fathers?
Like a bulldozer that bulldozes its way
through thick thickets to make the way
Like a bulldozer that labours night and day
Even on many holidays
Like a bulldozer that turns marshes into hard asphalt
that turns uneven places into smooth plains
that turns patches into levelled ways
Like a bulldozer that ventures where Albions fear to tread
…where they battle unkind conditions
…where they remove unmovable obstacles
…where they bring contours to shape
…where they straighten out curves
Like a bulldozer that makes the road and the railways
to make way for vans and trams
Like a bulldozer that is left in the bush
after clearing the bush for others to rush
Like a bulldozer that is forgotten
…often abandoned
Remembered only at the next construction
Forbidden…to travel on the road it had constructed
So are fathers?
Like a mechanic who must respond to calls even at odd hours
to do repairs
Like a mechanic who must report in greased…and creased clothes
to restore the jeep for the Chief in laundered suits
Like a mechanic who must travel in Aboboyaa
on his way home
because his clothes smelled like…hmmmmm
So are fathers?
