Nothing in my Life has been more terrifying, more troubling and more altogether rewarding than Fatherhood.

This is a poem I wrote for my son the morning he was born…

He Is Here
For Cole Joseph Howerton

Two hundred
And eighty-three days
Followed closely
By nineteen hours of pain

Blood and sweat
Pushing oblivion
Screams for mercy
From a bloated Angel

The long hurt
Of a world in chaos
Flaming belly
Exhaustion in her soul

Then a cry
A perfect warble
From a fresh lung
Making its presence known

He is here

9/8/06
AH