Where Have All the Daddies Gone?
By Chick Velasco
If you listen quietly
You can hear the babies cry.
Their Daddies have all moved away
And no one's told them why.
Just because they are so small,
We think they do not know
What it is we've done to them,
When we decide to go.
That's a lie we tell ourselves
To make ourselves believe
That it really doesn't matter
When we decide to leave.
Not only does it matter,
Hear me when I say,
They don't need us just on weekends;
They need us every day.
As I sit and write these words,
I can't describe the pain
As I recall the things I did;
I relive it once again.
I cannot even see the page,
My eyes so full of tears,
Still I cannot cry them dry
After all these years.
I love my sons so very much
But I did not put them first.
I was just so selfish
That I behaved my worst.
I left them with their Mommies,
I left them all alone,
I saw them on the weekends
And sometimes on the phone.
Why did I leave my sons behind?
Did I think I could be free?
I blamed it on their mothers
When the fault belonged to me.
Listen when I tell you,
These words I speak are true.
There's no freedom in the prison
That your acts create for you.
The day will come when you will see
What you have done so wrong.
You'll know your babies didn't get
What they needed all along.
You'll realize that it's your fault
And there's nothing you can do.
You will not get a second chance
To see your babies through.
Before you know it they are grown,
And their choices aren't so good,
Because their Daddy didn't teach
Them all the things he should.
Oh, they will always love you,
But that just makes it worse,
For in your heart you'll always know
You've given them a curse.
And in your heart you'll always know
That love is not enough.
You need to teach them every day
And do the "Daddy" stuff.
They need you there to laugh with them,
To hold them when they cry,
To hug them and to kiss them,
Make them the apple of your eye.
I often wonder what went on
Inside their little hearts
When I packed up and went away
And ripped their lives apart.
If you leave your babies,
That's exactly what you do,
Then one day you realize
Just what you've put them through.
Then every time you see a child
Your heart will start to swell.
You'll remember what you've done,
It's your little piece of hell.
There'll be nothing you can do
To satisfy the guilt,
It's like a dagger in your heart
That's buried to the hilt.
Every time you see a Daddy
Doing what is right,
You will know that you have failed
And you can never make it right.
Every night when you lie down
You'll hear your babies cry.
You'll taste the salty teardrops
That trickle from your eye.
You'll ask the Lord for mercy,
And He'll forgive you, too.
He'll wrap His arms around you,
And He will help you through.
Still you have to face the sunrise
Each and every day,
Always knowing in your heart
It was you who walked away.
My Father up in heaven
Has forgiven me that sin,
But I cannot leave this prison
That I am living in.
I can only promise
To be here every day,
So when my children call on me,
They'll know I'm back to stay.
Even then the pain persists,
It never goes away.
I'm shackled to this prison
I live in every day.
I have no one I can blame;
The fault is only mine.
I'm the one who made the choice
To leave my sons behind.
So many other Daddies
Have done the same as I,
And if they listen quietly
They can hear their babies cry.
They can hear them crying,
No matter where they roam,
Yet all those tears would turn to joy
If Daddy would come home.
I heard another baby cry
Just the other day.
She told me that her Daddy
Had packed and moved away.
I went off by myself and cried,
Knowing I'm the one.
I caused this problem long ago
...Her Daddy is my son.
That's why this is a prison
I am living in,
Because my former selfishness
Has hurt someone again.
Even though the years have passed
And I have changed my ways,
I cannot reverse the damage
Of my younger days.
So in this prison I will stay
Until my days are through,
Always wishing I could change
What I cannot undo.
If you are a Daddy,
Do not move away.
They need you more than weekends,
They need you every day.
Every day that you are gone
Is a day you can’t retrieve,
And it soon creates a prison
That you can never leave.
If I could do it all again,
I would not move away.
I'd spend some time with all my kids
Each and every day.
And learn to love their mommy,
In His pure and perfect way.