( For My Father: James Roger Moore | December 8, 1926 — December 13, 2003 )
We shouldn't be surprised,
for he has always been this way.
When times came for that new home,
a different job, another car,
some new place to start…
Dad would go first to take a look.
He'd go on ahead of us, alone,
to make sure everything was in order.
The family, being family,
seldom agreed the timing was right,
or that change was good,
or the new automobile color
was a color they would have chosen.
But, dad always pushed forward, undaunted.
It may have been upbringing,
but I believe, it was his true nature.
Out front of the wagons, on horseback -
scanning the horizon for trouble…
A lone scout, searching the unknown ground
his little army must soon cross…
Stepping-off alone,
into the gray, uncharted regions –
with only a map of himself.
So, there's really no surprise, now.
He's always been this way —
and that's all right.
You go on ahead, dad,
we'll catch up to you,
when we can.
