Sacrificial Lyrics

Cracked and rough hands

Bruised knuckles

The results of years turning wrenches

Grease-stained clothes from

Time spent under too many vehicles to count

Over the years overtime meant less time

Spent with family

But it was necessary

To provide,

Through those rough times

But now

His people find

He has more time to give,

More time to live,

With them, not just for them.

Three states in a single day

A lonely hotel room far away

From his high school sweetheart

And four children that bring him joy

Kissing their photo,

He drifts off to sleep

He'll dream of his flight back home.

Scarred skin & burnt hands

Callouses on callouses

Gifts from his trade

Aching back from many months

Hunched over a blowpipe

Measuring and fitting pipes,

Welding and setting aside

His desires

To save for

His kids' private schooling

In the grocery store or on walks in the park

His neck is on a swivel

Eyes alert

A quick nod

To another man, in passing

Is all the time needed for a serious conversation,

In which he says just two things

One: I see you bro, I hope you're doing well

Two: I will throw down to protect mine as I know you would too.

To his daughter

He is the ultimate example

Of how boys should treat her

He is the punisher, should they step out of line

To his son

He is the one who sets the guardrails

He had better not cross

He is the one

Who will, one day, hand him the torch of manhood

Happily, he has Sacrificed

Never complaining

Silently he has kept watch

Securing the borders at home

Gladly he has delayed his own wants

To bestow what they need

This is the love of real men

This is the love of fathers

May we never forget and

May we never neglect to let them know

We see them.

Much love daddy, Jah Bless