A Poem For His Father Comments

This is my second post for this comment - the first must have been buried with the coffin. I find the poem excellently expressed -and the conflict of father/son relationship so intensely depicted. The last line really got me.

Excellent poetry, a portrayal of father-son conflict in life, expressed so naturally it leaves assumptions open for the reader.

If I say 'Yes, I've been there too, Gary' then we both know your poem has worked? The love-hate relationship between father & son (which was never resolved for me since he died when I was 15) is something I haven't touched on yet in my own poetic work; but I think now I will, encouraged by what you're achieved here. So, it worked on that level too!

Gary, ' But Sympathy refused these mourning clothes, And smiling, firmly forced the coffin closed. ' Strong work, charming, unexpected beautiful the ending.... Tsira

This was so well-written. The parent relationship is so complex, so open to interpretations, and often hard.

I really enjoyed this one. It deftly captures how haunted many fathers and sons are by a feeling of unworthiness. Well done.

Powerful images in this poem. Based on my personal experience with relatives who have 'lingered' for several days before death takes them, your line 'He'd died too early but not soon enough.' grabs me the strongest. The rest of what is going on in your poem makes this line much more complex than just that. You final two lines have me rethinking what I thought you just said in the rest of the poem. You got me racing to the top to read it again and again. That's what good poems do to me. Here's one of mine for you. It's more compressed than yours. Stopped In The Final Round My Dad never planned to drop his left hand and have a right cross come crashing in. My Dad never planned to drop. My Dad never planned. My Dad, my Dad. --------Copyright The TomCat Petaluma CA 1992

Haunting, brilliantly written, appropriate flow to boot. Many will relate to this. That reflected inner voice of the taunting patriarch knowing 'exactly what to say' - oh yep. The voice internalised producing inner guilt and feeling of impotence rings all too true. t x

Gary, the rhythmic language here is stunning, as is the portrait you painted of this complex relationship...a little like Turgenev's _Father and Sons_....beautiful.

I enjoyed this one You described this man prefect fathers, yours, others, or heard of are always a good target for the muse.