The Poetry Show: Fathers Day

  Enlighten Radio Presents

 

Portraits of a Father as a Young Man

 

 

Robert Tobias headlines our Fathers Day poetry show with his striking poem -- "The Gift". Thanks to him for joining us in our red caboose zoom studio. Also to fulfill our neuro-diversity mission, Stanley Kunitz, Rainer Maria Rilke, Robert Hayden and Bruce Weigl. Broadcast LIVE Wednesdays, 10 AM on https://player.enlightenradio.org Hosts: Janet Harrison, John Case This Episode Recorded June 10, 2024

The Portrait

by Stanley Kunitz 1905 - 2006

My mother never forgave my father
for killing himself,
especially at such an awkward time
and in a public park,
that spring
when I was waiting to be born.
She locked his name
in her deepest cabinet
and would not let him out,
though I could hear him thumping.
When I came down from the attic
with the pastel portrait in my hand
of a long-lipped stranger
with a brave moustache
and deep brown level eyes,
she ripped it into shreds
without a single word
and slapped me hard.
In my sixty-fourth year
I can feel my cheek
still burning

 

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