Reid Monaghan - Father of a Son
The Friday Feature
Father of a Son
No easy feat,
to be a father
of a son.
To ignite a fire,
watch it grow —
furious and free —
then offer it to the world.
I wonder,
if I were to be
a father of a son,
would I hold short the reins,
fearing my mistakes in him?
You didn’t.
You never passed judgement —
only questioned, advised, supported.
You gave me a rock,
buried within —
rough, dirty, but solid.
You helped me shape it,
hone it, clean it,
fix it in place.
Residing in us both,
never spoken of —
a silent, personal trench,
a darker place,
difficult to carry.
I’ve struggled with that,
alone, quietly,
wishing it wasn’t there.
I’ve seen it in you too.
I’ve learned to love that place —
to understand its strength,
to grow close to it.
It is a powerful tool.
I’ve bounced through ideologies,
found fault in them all,
questioned, argued, quarrelled,
striving for meaning.
I know it now.
It is to live.
To experience.
To love.
Our time here is borrowed —
never promised.
A gift,
no more.
The greatest privilege on Earth
is the opportunity
to create life.
The greatest honour
is to cherish it,
harness it,
teach it,
love it.
We can only be
expected, asked, required
to leave this realm
better than we found it.
You have.
I asked of you nothing.
You gave me everything.
You brought me here.
You ignited a fire.
You kept it fuelled.
I will never let it go out.
Only we give,
time a start and end —
a human endeavour,
another futile strive
towards understanding.
A wave cares not
when it’s created
or when it ceases —
it forms part
of something greater.
As do we.
What resides within you,
so too within me —
everywhere,
all at once.
As the winds blow,
so will you.
As the trees grow,
so will you.
If I can ask of you
only one more thing:
do not leave
filled with fear —
but with fire,
excitement,
and wonder.
Carry with you the courage
you have always had.
The beauty lies not in the end,
but in the journey.
I love you —
a proud son
of a great father.
From the Press:
Monaghan offers a lyrical meditation on the complexities of patrilineal lineage. This body of work moves away from the stoic detachment associated with father-son relationships, and serves as a vulnerable "thank you" to a mentor who led by example rather than by decree.
Centered on the rejection of restrictive parenting, he reflects on the reins of fatherhood, noting with gratitude that his father refused to hold short out of fear of seeing his own flaws mirrored in his child. Instead of casting judgement, he describes a relationship defined by support.
Bouncing through various ideologies before landing on a grounded, essential truth: meaning is found in the simple act of living and loving.
Using elemental imagery, Monaghan utilizes the metaphor of fire and water. Fire is the energy ignited by the father, fueld by his presence, and now carried forth as an inexstinguishable flame. Concluding with a transition, he uses the imagery of a wave returning to the ocean, suggesting that both father and son are part of something greater, urging a departure from this realm filled not with fear, but with excitement, vigor, and wonder.
About the Author:
Reid Monaghan is a poet whose work explores faith, morality, love, and loss. His writing emerged from an intense and formative period marked by the death of his father, becoming a father himself, and the end of a meaningful career in the Royal Marines. His poems engage with conscience, responsibility, and legacy, and are rooted in lived experience and moral inquiry.
