NOW I’M JUST HIS STEP DADDY
When your father wasn’t there,
It was I who stood with you and your mother.
And when love came like corn fields in harvest,
You automatically became my son.
Oh! We never meant to keep no secrets.
Love bonded you as my son as blood would.
And I’ve prayed this day would never come;
When you’d see me as just your step-daddy.
I wasn’t trying to take your daddy’s place.
It’s killing me that you have to hurt badly.
And if I ever knew this day would come,
Maybe I never would have gotten so attached.
For its hard seeing your heart mingled,
When I was the entire father you ever knew.
The one who stayed when others never cared.
The entire daddy he couldn’t be.
Remember it was I who gave you everything.
I was the daddy behind the camcorder,
While you made your first baby steps.
I was there – a shoulder you relied on.
That man who made your mama smile.
The one who got an extra job to pay the bills.
The daddy who was always there for dinner.
Sitting in the front roll on Sunday service.
And when the dippers and baby-wipes are out,
I was the daddy in the store with baby’s shopping list.
Oh! How could you be quick to forget?
I’d give my life to you if needed;
For I never saw you as someone else’s son but mine.
And now that you run-away daddy is back,
Would I still be the entire daddy you’ll ever need?
Or would I be just the step-daddy you once knew.
©2011. Phillip Emmanuel O. Exclusive. All Rights Reserved.
