Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Napowrimo #20: the hero poem

Prompt for Day 20
Write a poem in which you pay tribute to your hero, past or present.

My Father My Hero
I dream you back to the present,
pater familias and protector,
the father I loved
and hated, my first hero.
There are no heroes anymore,
only famous people;
you were the real deal.

You demanded perfection
in all things,
your sky-high expectations
were impossibly steep and
I failed too many times.
Alike in countless ways,
yet you never saw; always
needless anger between us.

When you died, I was
the one at your bedside,
holding your hand
as you passed into eternity.
My life went suddenly flat
and I wondered how I would exist
in a world where you didn't.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed this. My dad always asked me where my 5.0 was in college. You can't get higher than a 4.0, dad. Well if you want to graduate with a 4.0 you need to earn a 5.0. He really was impressed with my 3.75 GPA though.

Sheila Deeth said...

Paints that picture of father and child so perfectly. And that feeling of helplessness and loss.

flaubert said...

This is a beautiful tribute to your dad.
Pamela

Robin said...

Powerful poem, Marianne, that documents very well the complicated relationships we often have with our fathers/heroes. My dad was sort of like this too, and also died perhaps not real aware of the big picture. Thanks for sharing this.

rallentanda said...

You have capture the ambivalence yet the great sense of loss and sadness .I think God should have made humans less
complicated.It's all too difficult.

Katie said...

i imagine my world would be flat without you, too. beautiful. so funny that he never saw how similar you truly were/are.

Anonymous said...

Poignant and well painted poem.