My dad, my best friend | Poem by Hritika, 16, Kolkata

My dad, my best friend 

You never ask for things,

But wake up even before the alarm rings.

You never look for praise,

But keep doing things for us going out of your way.

You held my hand ever since I was a child,

The one who sat at my bedside the entire night, even when I had fever, ever so mild.

When I have nightmares, your cuddles are so tight

All the fear suddenly seems to go completely out of sight.

Your laughter acts as medicine on my wounds,

With you, in my life, only happiness looms.

Maybe difficult times are waiting for you,

They don’t know that now they don’t have to deal with one but two.

With every difficulty you face, I have this lump in my throat,

But I will be strong,

I refuse to be weak ,

At the end of the day I know it’ll be alright when you kiss my cheek.

I feel the proudest when they call me your daughter

We have each other, nothing else really does matter.

I’ll always define “love” by referring to you,

Together we’ll win this war,

Because we are stronger even though we are very few.

You never accepted the father-daughter stereotypical debate,

Therefore in you I did not just find a father but a “soulmate”.