Father and Son

[stephen]

Sharp eyes he had, you say?
Yet I’ll wager
they were filled with tears
many a day.
His heart watched, too,
—for years;
and, busy as he was, he’d stand
filled with a yearning
for that son who’d left
for some far land,
spurning
love, and home—and him;
frantic for fun, debating
all he had learned;
and so, the Father stood
watching ...
yearning ...
waiting ...
for his son’s returning.

Some would pity,
to see him grieve,
a few might scoff.
True,
the Father watched him leave
but, too,
He saw him coming
“when yet a great way off.”


Ruth Graham Bell