Long Poems for and About Fathers
#father
Long poems for and about fathers. 300 words or more, most recently published poems first.
When I Lost My Father
When I Lost My Father
May was about to pass into June
Red clover was in bloom
in the fields around Natchez, Mississippi
Honeysuckle vines grew on the fences and trees
Whose flowers were picked by Children
To pinch off the bottom
and taste the sweetness within
“But my blackberry harvest came
long after Dad roamed
The blueberry barrens of Maine
In the solitude of his shyness
When time was a cool breeze
With Grammie...
May was about to pass into June
Red clover was in bloom
in the fields around Natchez, Mississippi
Honeysuckle vines grew on the fences and trees
Whose flowers were picked by Children
To pinch off the bottom
and taste the sweetness within
“But my blackberry harvest came
long after Dad roamed
The blueberry barrens of Maine
In the solitude of his shyness
When time was a cool breeze
With Grammie...
#grief
#father
#spring
#nature
#spiritual
273 reads
13 Comments
Buju and Johnny Baw
Chapter 1
Father and Son
An elderly man known as Johnny Baw lived with his teenaged son Buju in a run-down house on Wellington Road. They were underprivileged people of the ghetto. Even though Johnny Baw was a strict disciplinarian, Buju was not a well-behaved boy. Moreover, he acted like a clown. Johnny Baw was a retired electrician, but he occasionally did some work. The skilful man had an old, squeaky bicycle that he rode everywhere he went. Mischievous people in the neighbourhood called Johnny Baw “Lumpis.” He did not like that nickname, so he would curse...
Father and Son
An elderly man known as Johnny Baw lived with his teenaged son Buju in a run-down house on Wellington Road. They were underprivileged people of the ghetto. Even though Johnny Baw was a strict disciplinarian, Buju was not a well-behaved boy. Moreover, he acted like a clown. Johnny Baw was a retired electrician, but he occasionally did some work. The skilful man had an old, squeaky bicycle that he rode everywhere he went. Mischievous people in the neighbourhood called Johnny Baw “Lumpis.” He did not like that nickname, so he would curse...
#father
#food
#funny
#poverty
#son
123 reads
0 Comments
Hey Dad.
Hey Dad
I‘m getting five today
And I know that you gonna be there
And I know we‘ll have some fun today
So see you soon when you get here
I love you
Hey Dad
My 10th birthday was cool
Was different with you not being there
I hope we can celebrate soon
We still got some cake to share
I got new toys!
Can we play with them?
I know we‘ll have fun
Tell me, when will you come again?
In how many months?
I miss you
Hey Dad!
Where’s your fucking face?
You send a present, huh?
And you send a...
I‘m getting five today
And I know that you gonna be there
And I know we‘ll have some fun today
So see you soon when you get here
I love you
Hey Dad
My 10th birthday was cool
Was different with you not being there
I hope we can celebrate soon
We still got some cake to share
I got new toys!
Can we play with them?
I know we‘ll have fun
Tell me, when will you come again?
In how many months?
I miss you
Hey Dad!
Where’s your fucking face?
You send a present, huh?
And you send a...
#anger
#father
#childhood
#family
#disappointment
278 reads
2 Comments
The haunting bittersweetness of coconut cream pie
It's been a long while
Years are mere moments
some days shine bright
of your warm memory
it's only in dark shadows
where the sting still stings
Finding my own smile
in tattered old photos
or sounds of our similar nature
tears can't help but brim
quivering
at our alikeness
unmistakably similar
so uncanny
I can't help but chuckle
yeah, that too... is familiar
Laughing through tears
grief finds it's own way
through, over
and around
Every single one
of...
Years are mere moments
some days shine bright
of your warm memory
it's only in dark shadows
where the sting still stings
Finding my own smile
in tattered old photos
or sounds of our similar nature
tears can't help but brim
quivering
at our alikeness
unmistakably similar
so uncanny
I can't help but chuckle
yeah, that too... is familiar
Laughing through tears
grief finds it's own way
through, over
and around
Every single one
of...
#love
#father
#birthday
#magic
#healing
870 reads
68 Comments
Hell no
Knock at the door
I open to see who's there.
Who the hell is this boy.
Why do you have a bun in your hair.
My daughter comes running
Daddy this is "gggggrrrr"
My wife touches my shoulder
Real quick let's have a word
Stay calm papi
She is becoming of age
No the hell shes not
Trying to bottle my rage
Daddy this Miguel
I just stare
His eyes roaming
What you looking for there
How are you sir
Stop staring at my feet
Why is your hand so sweaty
Why so nervous on first meet
...
I open to see who's there.
Who the hell is this boy.
Why do you have a bun in your hair.
My daughter comes running
Daddy this is "gggggrrrr"
My wife touches my shoulder
Real quick let's have a word
Stay calm papi
She is becoming of age
No the hell shes not
Trying to bottle my rage
Daddy this Miguel
I just stare
His eyes roaming
What you looking for there
How are you sir
Stop staring at my feet
Why is your hand so sweaty
Why so nervous on first meet
...
#anger
#father
#parent
#family
#denial
222 reads
2 Comments
2004
Dedicated to my dad...
You were in and out of jail
I got all the letters in the mail
You never had to go
You made that choice all on your own
All I ever wanted was to know
How could you tell me you were coming
And never show?
Were all the letters you sent to me a joke?
I realize our relationship was already broke
I wanted your love but all you wanted was to smoke
Obviously, the pain you went through was rough
but don't you think it's tough how you left your daughter in the dust?
Broke our...
You were in and out of jail
I got all the letters in the mail
You never had to go
You made that choice all on your own
All I ever wanted was to know
How could you tell me you were coming
And never show?
Were all the letters you sent to me a joke?
I realize our relationship was already broke
I wanted your love but all you wanted was to smoke
Obviously, the pain you went through was rough
but don't you think it's tough how you left your daughter in the dust?
Broke our...
#father
#childhood
#memories
#prison
#daughter
324 reads
1 Comment
Note to her father
Man to man,
You really messed up
Broke this heart that now
I’m left to heal…
My girls so broken,
She’s so effected by little “nothings”
For her, everything’s a big deal.
You really fucked up,
No matter what,
It’s like my love not enough…
no matter what I show her,
She’s too hurt to believe it
And she lets it roll off of her shoulder.
You dropped that ball,
And chose to miss her life,
Chose to reject your our daughter,
…now she’s broken inside,
And when I look at her
She tries her best to hide… ...
You really messed up
Broke this heart that now
I’m left to heal…
My girls so broken,
She’s so effected by little “nothings”
For her, everything’s a big deal.
You really fucked up,
No matter what,
It’s like my love not enough…
no matter what I show her,
She’s too hurt to believe it
And she lets it roll off of her shoulder.
You dropped that ball,
And chose to miss her life,
Chose to reject your our daughter,
…now she’s broken inside,
And when I look at her
She tries her best to hide… ...
#anger
#grief
#father
#heartbroken
#daughter
209 reads
2 Comments
The Sixth Son From The Only Son Of Six
I wonder if his life flashed
before his eyes before he died
My life crashed before my eyes then I sighed
In a mad dash to the ash
Running from the worst hurt
From the last bash smashing
Head on into the first crash Thrashing from the vastness of the amassed past
Outlasting the lashing out cashed out
From the casting out hashing it out as a castaway
Passed away giving in from the passing out
With no doubt about the what
I'm the who when there's nowhere left but right there
With the know how but not the why now
Is it...
before his eyes before he died
My life crashed before my eyes then I sighed
In a mad dash to the ash
Running from the worst hurt
From the last bash smashing
Head on into the first crash Thrashing from the vastness of the amassed past
Outlasting the lashing out cashed out
From the casting out hashing it out as a castaway
Passed away giving in from the passing out
With no doubt about the what
I'm the who when there's nowhere left but right there
With the know how but not the why now
Is it...
#grief
#father
#family
#death
#FathersDay
348 reads
2 Comments
Little girl
Higher, higher, higher
Kick my feet and fly
My toes can almost touch the top of the tree
I can hear my sisters laughter
And the youth still in my father's voice
I can feel his hand on my back
Pushing my sister and I on the swings
I am happy and I am free
I can smell the mud of the creek
And feel the grass beneath my feet
I run by the river Bank, fast as I can
Curls flowing behind me like flames
Again, I can hear my sisters laughter
And my mother calling us home for supper
Things are simple still, dreams come...
Kick my feet and fly
My toes can almost touch the top of the tree
I can hear my sisters laughter
And the youth still in my father's voice
I can feel his hand on my back
Pushing my sister and I on the swings
I am happy and I am free
I can smell the mud of the creek
And feel the grass beneath my feet
I run by the river Bank, fast as I can
Curls flowing behind me like flames
Again, I can hear my sisters laughter
And my mother calling us home for supper
Things are simple still, dreams come...
#mother
#father
#childhood
#family
#responsibility
223 reads
0 Comments
The Death Rubric
my mom's friend
-let's call her Ethel-
was the first to get an F
the day my dad died
i'd relayed dad's final words
words the nurse on duty
had relayed to me
just hours before
asked late at night if he'd like the lights off or on:
"I'd prefer them on"
"He always was a control freak" i joked
i meant it affectionately, damn it!
his ability to navigate a sailboat across the Atlantic without radar
the time he'd kept his wits after the single engine in his plane failed
the time he put out a fire...
-let's call her Ethel-
was the first to get an F
the day my dad died
i'd relayed dad's final words
words the nurse on duty
had relayed to me
just hours before
asked late at night if he'd like the lights off or on:
"I'd prefer them on"
"He always was a control freak" i joked
i meant it affectionately, damn it!
his ability to navigate a sailboat across the Atlantic without radar
the time he'd kept his wits after the single engine in his plane failed
the time he put out a fire...
#kindness
#father
#death #emotions
#death #emotions
600 reads
4 Comments
Diary - That Permeating Odor
I went to a pipe shop, as I was looking for a Zippo lighter for my son. It's a nasty habit he acquired, but I try not to judge, and know it's something he'll use.
This pipe shop was the one my father used to go to when I was young, and it was the only one I knew.
That smell hit me the moment I walked into the store, the smell of Captain Black Gold.
My father was a heavy smoker. He started smoking at three. His mother would roll him cigarettes. Tobacco was the major crop in Kentucky's Appalachian Mountains. Back in his day they thought it was good for you. ...
This pipe shop was the one my father used to go to when I was young, and it was the only one I knew.
That smell hit me the moment I walked into the store, the smell of Captain Black Gold.
My father was a heavy smoker. He started smoking at three. His mother would roll him cigarettes. Tobacco was the major crop in Kentucky's Appalachian Mountains. Back in his day they thought it was good for you. ...
#father
247 reads
2 Comments
Robust.
From deep secreted annals
as far back as memories cling
a headiness skulks
roaming of rich robust
nostalgia
i absent-mindedly drifted off this morning
hypnotized by way of coffee drips
and the magic therein
...
.
.
My daddy's scratchy face
i whine a faint complaint
he chuckles, sleep still clinging
lovingly settling me in his lap
i instantly lean into the warmth
of his safe frame
Smells of dark ambrosia, almost...
as far back as memories cling
a headiness skulks
roaming of rich robust
nostalgia
i absent-mindedly drifted off this morning
hypnotized by way of coffee drips
and the magic therein
...
.
.
My daddy's scratchy face
i whine a faint complaint
he chuckles, sleep still clinging
lovingly settling me in his lap
i instantly lean into the warmth
of his safe frame
Smells of dark ambrosia, almost...
#love
#father
#coffee
#nostalgia
#NoPoo
615 reads
39 Comments
DU Poetry : Long Poems for and About Fathers