My Father’s Heart 
by Charles Fishman

My father’s heart stopped being angry
and started to love. It decided to love,
as if to love were a thing given to us
to decide. It decided to love, so he put away
his hate. He put away his stern masculine face.
It decided to love, so his harsh childhood
was put away; no longer would those long-ago days
haunt him. He put more things away: the slights and cuts
and humiliations and all his disappointments as a man.
And he put his pain away. He put these things away
and turned his heart to love. He became a loving man,
and his love outgrew his strength.

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Copyright © 1997 by Charles Fishman. Used with permission of Charles Fishman.