Are We There Yet?

I wrote this for the 10th annual Australian Fatherhood Research Symposium, reflecting on a decade of the Consortium of that name.

The provoking question was: how far have we come? The less poetic answer is a long way, with fatherhood really getting a lot more and fairer attention from all sectors than in 2015.

But I wanted to make this personal, immediate. Because that’s where most good, lasting change happens, person by person, household by household.

I stand by this poem’s message: that a town that holds its men and boys so they grow and stay strong, responsible and nurturing, is a fairer, safer, happier town for all.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.