Tough guy poetry from my published book of poems.

THE LIVING WOUND

Whether through serrated remarks
or the back of his hand,
we all live with wounds from the father.

If we found ourselves controlled
or abandoned to live on our own,
his ghost sits with his sons and daughters.

Was it simply that we loved the same woman,
our mother, his wife and ever-fading lover,
tearing us apart when we became men?

Did he survive or devour his competition,
or was it we that turned away,
rejecting the old,
tamping and trampling him
in our haste to be the future?

It’s taken too many years,
but our father is forgiven
for reacting with such vengeance,
taking so personally
the inevitable strikes and blows of the son.

10-02

Have a look at my Facebook page for daily pictorials of the other project in my life.

Copyright: November 2011   All rights reserved.