Fathers ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #197

Paddling
On a perfect day

I remember days long past
Of sunshine and calm
Depths still clear
At forty feet

The rod held
Expectantly
In your son’s hands

Paddle in yours
The strokes
A gentle
Powerful
Grace

You didn’t care for fishing
But I did
So out we went

My youth
A stream of summer memories
New England lakes
Bass and wallabies
A pickerel here and there
The perch and sunnies
Disdainfully thrown back

Paddling today
On a perfect day
I reflect on those times
And the times that would follow

Times of storms and dark clouds
Murky shallows
When we were not always
So gentle with each other
Awkward
Sometimes graceless
The depth of you
Forever unreachable

But still I knew you
As the father who’d take me out
For no more than the pleasure
Of my pleasure

That is
I knew
Always
That you loved me

You’ve been gone now
For longer than I ever had you

For your eulogy
I used the metaphor
Of the missing wingman
A natural for the pilot father

But on this day
Of sunshine and calm
Of depth and clarity
I notice a second paddle
Laying against the empty seat
Wishing your hands were upon it
So that once again
We could take on this task of living
With the harmony of paddling
Together

Paddling
Tyaughton Lake
Near Gold Bridge
The Chilkotins
British Columbia, Canada, 2014

Last week we retreated to our Islands. This week, let’s appreciate Fathers, or find something else to inspire you in this photograph of a canoe On Tyaughton Lake in the Chilkotins of British Columbia, Canada.

The Pic and a Word Challenge is a weekly creativity prompt offered Sundays.

Each week I provide a photograph of mine along with a single word. The challenge? Use the pic and/or word as points of inspiration to create something — a photograph, a painting, prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, longread or just a few words. You are welcome to use these two elements (photograph and word) literally, thematically or metaphorically. If you create both images and words, all the better.

To participate:

Use any title you like
Your response can be words and/or images
You may use my image in your post, or any image you have created
Mention that you are responding to the Pic and a Word Challenge
Add a link to this post in your response

To help us find your response — whether on WordPress, Instagram, Flicker, Tumblr, etc. — you can also:

Add a comment on this post to announce your response
Apply the tag/hashtag “Pic and a Word Challenge” or “#picandawordchallenge” to your post

Each week, I’ll list the previous week’s responses at the end of the new challenge. I may also share some on my social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc.

Last week’s challenge: Islands

Christie Islet Bird Sanctuary, Howe Sound, Sea to Sky Highway, British Columbia, Canada — Challenge #196 ~ Islands

The word for last week’s Pic and a Word Challenge #196 was Islands, along with this blue hour photograph of Christie Islet Bird Sanctuary in Howe Sound, British Columbia, Canada.

Seven bloggers washed up on Islands this week. =) Thank you, everyone! ❤