Oh, my Tata*
You gave so much to me
And have meant more to me
Than any man

You were the first to love
And understand me
And you gave me such confidence
By the regard you had for me

Fully believing in spite of it all,
I would turn out all right in the end
You could see things
Others could not

Where they saw frailties
You saw strength
Where others saw a difficult temperament
You saw strength of character

Where others saw gangliness
You saw beauty
Where others saw stubbornness
You saw steadfastness

And the day you died
I knew no one would ever love
And protect me
The way that you did.

When you went,
A part of me did too
And I was left with a gaping hole
That burnt its way into my heart and soul

And is only covered by
The thinnest piece of membrane
That can easily puncture
At the littlest thing

Oh my Tata
All the things I love
Are from you
They are the very things you loved:

Art, literature, politics
Religion, Culture
Philosophy

You gave me the love of thinking
Of looking at things from every angle
And choosing
And adhering to
The best way to live

Even though you're gone
You steer me still
And give me courage
Oh, my Tata

Such a strong brave man
That you can still do all of this
From the grave
Oh, my Tata

Every time I write
I think of you
And ache to tell you how I love you
And long to give something back to you

Oh, my Tata
I think you gave me a little bit of God
In the sense that you directed me to Him
How easily I can believe He loves me
And protects me

And wants the best for me!
How easy it is for me to believe
He is the most wonderful Father!
For He gave you to me
Oh, my Tata!

- Aurora Antonovic

* The author wrote this poem for her late father:
"Tata," is the Serbian word for "Daddy."

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