Thursday, April 14, 2016

Papa




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



6 comments:

  1. So he's really not a real person?? Because he feels really real to me. I want him to be real.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I 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!

      Delete
  2. Almost didn't make it tonight.

    "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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sigh. The price of adulthood. And the curse of farming the arid dry plains.

      Delete
  3. It 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.

    Carol, love the sense of lost possibility in your poem and yet it also has such a sense of dignity.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 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