Papa
Yes, indeed.
That's me.
Star of the team.
Valedictorian of my class, too.
If you work hard,
I believe you can succeed
at whatever
you aim for.
Of course, when it comes to wheat
a farmer can work his tail off
and the weather decides
what will be.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016
So he's really not a real person?? Because he feels really real to me. I want him to be real.
ReplyDeleteI am in love with him, too -- a trumpet-playing, Valedictorian...farmer. I'm working with my students on creating complex characters, and I guess some of my own lessons have sunk in!
DeleteAlmost didn't make it tonight.
ReplyDelete"Glory Years"
In those days I was
captain of the team
master of the ball
my confident smile
forecast weekend plans--
a win on the basketball court
followed by a chocolate soda
spinning the stool to face
my latest conquest
Today I am
captain only of scorched fields
I spin grains of parched wheat
in dry, cracked palms
joy has been eclipsed by weather,
worries, and prayer pleas
for rain, a plentiful crop
one more year of plenty
When did it go awry?
(C) Carol Wilcox, 2016
Sigh. The price of adulthood. And the curse of farming the arid dry plains.
DeleteIt has been so fun to see how you two have been playing off each other's work here. I agree with Carol, Mary Lee, these characters are becoming very real.
ReplyDeleteCarol, love the sense of lost possibility in your poem and yet it also has such a sense of dignity.
Amazing. He IS real. And speaks such truth. I feel that these poems are just meant to be read and read. This whole project is stunning. I know I keep saying it, but... xx
ReplyDelete