My Captain

A few days ago, I paid tribute to my mother, and I feel it only fair to honor my father, who although gone for many years, shaped the person I've become. It's through his outgoing personality and teasing style that I have been able to craft my own humor and drive. He thought nothing of telling me I looked like an elephant on ice picks when I bought my first pair of high heels, but it didn't warp my psyche or send me in search of counseling...instead, it made me laugh because I knew he loved me and that was his way of showing it. Some may consider it harsh, but you had to know my Dad!

I wrote this poem for my late father, Alfred Pomerantz. He was my life's inspiration then and now. It's been over twenty-years since he died, but in some ways it seems like yesterday that I saw his teasing smile and heard his same stale jokes. I miss you Daddy!

My Captain


Our lives are like a stormy sea, by waves we are tossed and thrown.
But on this sea of life we sail our mistakes are not ours alone.

Children, like ships, may go off course and drift to troubled waters.
But charts guide ships that sail the seas like fathers guide their daughters.

We sometimes hurt the ones we love; the ones that mean the world.
We try to sail a straight, straight line but by life's tide we're hurled.

When life's storms have come to end, and we set our sails anew;
A crew still needs a captain to see the voyage through.

And so you see dear father, you're my beacon in the night.
Your wisdom charts my voyage, your love provides the light.

No ship has sailed this sea of life with a skipper more tried and true.
I'm glad I made the voyage, and I'm glad my captain was you!