Happy Father's Day To One Not Yet

(This one was given to me decades ago, and I have kept it all these years! Please feel free to share it with your husbands, brothers, sons, dads, and granddads.)


Happy Father's Day to one not yet
A father, but with well-honed hopes to be!
Praised be those who put aside regret,
Pursuing with fresh joy the sails they see.
Years of grace lie in wait for all,
Failing ever to live up to dreams,
Awash in beauty, clear beyond recall,
The gift that is more certain than it seems.
Happiness comes solely from within,
Exacting reimbursement for its cost,
Resuming where one always may begin:
'Twixt what one hopes and what one well has lost.
So may you soon a joyful father prove,
Destined for that crucible of love;
And may you there be hammered into gold,
Your heart yet burning as your years grow old.