Conversations with Papa

I enjoyed bringing
One or the other
Of my daughters with me
When I traveled
To distant work sites,
So they could see
The kind of work I did.
I seldom took both
For they were bitter rivals
When they were young.
We had some of
The greatest conversations
About life
And the principles of living
On the way there and back.
We talked about success,
What it takes to be happy,
What makes us sad
And what it means to be free.
We would talk about the earth,
The challenges of engineering,
The adventure of discovery,
And how life looked
Through their eyes.
We would talk about their teachers,
The other students
In their classes,
Anything of concern to them.
Those conversations
Meant more to me
Than all the riches in heaven,
And it saddens me to think
How many children
Grow up never having
The chance to talk to
And get to know their dads.