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MJTruthUltra @MJTruthUltra - New Poem — Cycles of the Bath: Father to Son, Forever
In the warm cradle of the tub we share, you—small, new, impossibly light— rest against my chest, a fragile bird. To you I am a continent, a giant whose arms span oceans you have yet to name.
The water rises, soft as breath at first. You laugh, palms slapping silver mirrors, splashing joy in bright, unmeasured arcs. Then the tide climbs higher than your chin, and laughter turns to wide-eyed wonder, then to need.
Tiny hands find me— fingers clutch like vines to ancient bark— and in that grip I feel the weight of every promise I will ever make. You know, without words, that I am the shore you cannot yet reach alone. Without me, the water would close over you like a quiet night with no stars.
I hold you closer, heart beating against your ear, the steady rhythm of I am here, I am here, I will not let you sink.
And I think of years unfolding like slow waves: how you will stretch, grow tall, outgrow my shadow, perhaps even my height. The world will pour its deeper waters— betrayal, loss, the cold undertow of doubt — and still you will reach for me, not for arms now, but for the map. I carry in stories, in warnings, in love.
I will teach you the feel of safe currents, the warning hush before a riptide, how to kick toward light when light seems gone, where the true shore lies beyond the breakers.
Until one day the roles reverse without ceremony: you, the giant now, lifting your own son from rising water, his small hands trusting the continent of you the way yours once trusted me.
And in that moment, across the years, our hearts will beat the same quiet promise:
I am here. I will not let you sink.
##END##
*My wife usually gives the baths, but tonight little man took a bath for the first time with daddy.
The water was filling up and he got scarred and latched onto me.. sparking the inspiration for this poem.
I think I’ll be self-publishing a book of poetry and spiritual/personal thoughts in the near future.. so I hope you enjoy.
https://x.com/MJTruthUltra/status/2002891480214442355