Legend has it..

that you would strive building

and improving

the quality of living

for your children.

You are a man who started

to work at a young age.

Laboured with your late great grandmother,

who outlived

most of your relatives.

Relatively speaking the formula was evident.

For how ironic of you

to work in that environment,

as if it was some sort of prediction

of whats to come in your position.

The ingredients were set.Concentrated.

You would collect

the fruits of your labour

to solve life's mysterious equation

after attending your school

of hard knocks on a daily basis...

A school of thought

that taught you

the ultimate hard hitting equation

of being formulated ,formatted ,and fitted

to not live a fit life filled with exquisite

prosperous blessings

that only blossoms

significantly upon

a diluted society's so called “significant.”

It was written for your rage and innocence

to be tried and struggled with.

Perhaps, a blessing in disguise?

A trail of trials and tribulations teaching you patience.

That same patience

that made you endure

for 20 years.

That same patience

you preached about for 20 years.

That same patience ...made you strike gold.

The mother load.

When you met her.

Fell in love with a Lebanese girl,

only several years younger.

A girl who hailed from the city,

while you were from the country .

You were a soldier ,A lieutenant.

A part of a revolution.

Apart of the Palestinian Liberation Front.

All of this was occurring

during the Lebanese civil war

fought between Muslims and Christians,

while having another Middle eastern crisis

going on for it throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

You fought for your country,

but you fought for her country..

as well as fighting

for her parents approval,

since you weren't up to par

in the financial department.

Then you both immigrated..

Both of you immigrated... Surpassing.

Surpassing constant poverty during

your tenure at the refugee camps,struggling.

Surpassing living in a zinc plated house

with many siblings.

Surpassing living with beasts,

that had you bogged down and beat

by the wilderness

that came to be instilled within your spirit.

Survival of the fittest.

Deliberate.

Hard headed.

Learned true grit.

Wasn't given anything.

Heck,Tarzan ain't got nothing on you.

No silver platters. Not even plastic plates.

Had to settle with eating sandwiches

during lunchtime at education institutions

that were financed by the UN.

You would constantly obsess

over being a Palestinian refugee with

broken dreams that were shattered,

even during conception.

Lived your entire life ,sharp witted to cope.

An outcast like a shard of glass

reflected by the masses as hazardous to

a society that loved to critically castrate creativity.

Wondering what's the point of dreaming macro,

if such dreams were to be diminished

in the eyes of the micro mentally diminutive.

These myopic men have limited vision

on the bigger picture when it comes to

seeking inner happiness.

You were casually

belittled by these so called men,

until your kids

came to appreciate your patience ,

after the hell you had to go through.

Now look at you.

God bless you.

Residing in a heaven

on earth with your beloved

significant other and your children.

Some post secondary graduates

Some working...

Some married...

And some writing.

Writing a legacy that’s worth writing.

I guess its safe to say

that the fruits of your labour

has come to fruition.

Your harvested seeds grew to feed you ease

after the hardships.

Your grisly dried wrinkled hands

plucked from life’s grounded composition

a purpose to live.

So please.

Please..

Accept this application

of appreciation presented

to you in a form of a peice of a poem

blossomed from the heart.

A dedication to you, father.

The true underdog under God.

A legend.