Paternity

by Jared Pearce

Paternity

Only through the grace pain brings

You come—I've seen how it stings

The sufferer to grant your wings

To descend among my cups of hands—

And know by experience the lands

You'll discover long afresh, grand

Worlds and a measure of your own sand

As it ripples through the narrow waist

Of living, where you'll find that pain

That loved through, and know grace again,

And the suffering that sails and sings.

JARED PEARCE teaches writing and literature at William Penn University.  His poems are forthcoming from Angle, Far Off Places, and Albatross, and have recently been shared in Paper Nautilus, Interdisciplinary Humanities, Anthem, Apeiron Review, and The Lake.