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A Father's Pride 
by Rachel Novak

I just woke from a dream where I had a broken wing.

It was a worn, torn, tattered, ratty thing.

The way it hung kind of crooked and crinked. 

Where one shoulder stood high the other would slink. 

The feathers were discolored, a dusty shade of grey. 

I felt this certainty that if (rather when) trouble came,

I couldn’t possibly fly away. 

This was an odd and uncomfortable, vivid “dream.” 

The weight of the wing was real, 

almost incapacitating it seemed.

In my sleep state I forced my aching body

to slowly walk along the earth.

Intently seeing things just like the others, 

Much the way I had conformed since birth. 

But I’ve never seen this part of me before. 

The part that would almost convince me,

                    that maybe 

just maybe ...,

I was created to soar.

In the dream there was this mist, not “a light” like people often say. 

More like beads of water that came from above and below… 

but just as quickly as they fall, 

they seem to drift away. 

In these drops are tiny reflections,

 little spurts of earthly memories made, 

I saw them pass by my face, land on my skin

but almost immediately fade. 

I found a peace within as the air began to shimmer golden and warm.

Perhaps we had it all wrong, all along and it is the calm, AFTER the storm?




I’m disillusioned, yet clear, but not at all sure where I am. 

I keep moving along the path the best as I can. 

My hearts mind tells me keep going, 

that this is for sure the destination. 

So I drag the broken wing along,

with noticeably less and less hesitation. 

Simultaneously filling with excitement and relief as the load begins to lift. 

My broken wing is no longer such a burden, 

and the air surrounding me continues to shift. 

With one large inhale I stand tall, roll my shoulders & straighten my back. 

With every fabric of my being, 

I am serenely aware that there’s no single thing I lack. 

The feeling of not just contentment, but an overwhelming indescribable Love. 

As droplets of light and new downy feathers fall on me from above. 

A voice that is innately familiar, like that of a father to its child, 

says “I’m so glad you’re here love, I’ve been waiting quite a while” …

I do not answer back I just nod in a state of unfamiliar bliss,

and accept that I am home. 

No longer feeling any sliver of being lost,

afraid, 

ashamed, 

or alone. 

“We all have broken wings child. 

You see it happens on the fall!

But you carried your burden well, you made it after-all! 

You were not able to see it until my light restored your beauty, but I’m honoring you with rest now. You’ve completed your call of duty. 

Cast all your cares aside now, you are no longer of that dim and broken world. 

You are home, your job is done, most importantly of all, 

I AM PROUD OF YOU GIRL” 

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Hear Rachel Novak recite the poem on the Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast: