Father’s Day is more than ties and toolboxes—it’s a moment to celebrate the steady strength, quiet wisdom, and sometimes silly humour that fathers and father figures bring into our lives. Whether it’s a bedtime story shared in the glow of a nightlight or life lessons tucked into an afternoon walk, the bond between a child and their dad is one worthy of poetry.
Some gifts fade with time—but the books we’re given as children? They stay with us. This Father’s Day, I’m thinking not just about the man who taught me how to ride a bike or pitch a tent in the wilds of British Columbia—but about the stories he placed in my hands, and the worlds they opened.
There’s a reason children light up when they hear a poem. The bounce of a rhythm, the surprise of a rhyme, the joy of a repeated phrase—all of it taps into something universal: the music of language.
When I was younger, I stumbled upon a poem called Roadside Flowers—a quiet little verse tucked into an old poetry collection on a dusty shelf. I didn’t know it then, but that poem would stick with me for life.