To A Sad Daughter Comments

I had the great pleasure of meeting Michael Ondaatje after a reading of his works, both novels and poetry. I shared with him that I am a teacher and have used his poetry with my high school students. 'To A Sad Daughter' is a wonderful example of how man forms stereotypes, and the wise among us refuse to accept them. This adventure with Ondaatje made me a groupie of his forever... His prose, too, is poetry!

I have read most of your novels and they are great. This poetry is great. It hit home for me. It's ironic for a teacher like me to have struggles with my daughter in terms of her schooling and yet I had and have so many students who admire what I do for them in my class. Jona

Michael, I never had a daughter, just 5 sons. But when I read your poem, 'To a Sad Daughter', I felt as if she was my own daughter, the one I never had, It was like sitting on a veranda having a cool drink with you and talking about our daughters. Your poem went straight to my heart. I once wrote one to honor my daughters-in-law, but I would now call that one superficial compared to yours. Keep trying to see the Divine Light as it inspires you to keep writing. Willem