The Son I Never Knew

A poem about a deadbeat dad who wants to tell his side of the story

My name is Gary Lloyd James. I was born in the country of Jamaica where I was taught some of life’s most intriguing lessons. My childhood was filled with interesting encounters that put me in a place where I would have no choice but to believe in God. Throughout my childhood I realized that I had a special concern for the less fortunate in our society and hoped that one day I would be able to do something to make life a little better for those who felt they could not go any further. I moved to the United States to be with my lovely wife to whom I have the awesome pleasure to be married to for the past eleven years. She has been a God-send and has kept me grounded and has supported me in by many endeavors. On July 18, 2004 I received what I call the “gift of poetry”. I emphasize the word “gift” because that is what I believe it to be. I had absolutely no interest in poetry until the night of July 18, 2004 when I had a dream of a woman being abused by her spouse and that scene caused something inside me to snap. I rose up the next morning with this burden on my mind wanting so badly to do something, anything, to help these women who are facing this situation on a daily basis. When I got to work that afternoon I was looking for some information on the internet when I came across a contest for poetry and I said to myself, “Poetry”? That may be a way to express these strong convictions I have regarding the abuse of our women. So I went to this poetry website and started to write the first line of  “A Woman’s Tears” which won the Editor’s Choice Award from Poetry.com for 2004.

 I proceeded to write a second poem, after which I was consumed by poetry in such a way that I ended up writing 100 poems in 3 months and pursued the goal of publishing my book, “Untied Feelings” which has received rave reviews from Prof. G. Bembry from Bloomfield College in Bloomfield New Jersey. Since then I have been driven by the desire to speak out against domestic violence in our society. My objective is to bring awareness of domestic violence to another level. I have no doubt in my mind that this burden in my heart was the very reason that God has blessed me with this ability.

I will continue this quest until men realize how precious and vitally important women are to our society. The thought of a thirty plus year old woman cowering like a twelve year old child before a man who claims to love her, just cuts at the very fiber of my being. Poetry has allowed me to look at women in a new light after seeing life from their perspective. When I stepped back and took a look at my very own wife and saw how she operates, how she does our taxes, works two jobs, cooks our dinner, does the laundry, leaves one job and brings our daughter to cheerleading practice. Then, coming back home to the computer to start her other job, revising our daughter’s homework, editing my book. When going on vacation, the way she packs our suitcase without forgetting a single item, has left me, at times, speechless, and I would say to myself how could I ever raise my hands against a woman that does all that and more? And this is the message I would like to get out to the world to these men who do not feel that they can be a man until they have there female companion terrified of being in their presence. I hope this dream of bringing awareness of domestic violence through poetry, T Shirts, and other mediums will be the start of a new day where women and men will speak out on behalf of the millions of women who are living their lives in constant fear.