On Fathers

Yesterday was Father’s Day, but amidst all our parenting duties, neither I nor Jeff had much time to reflect on fatherhood. As with all jobs done well, if you are a good father you may be much too busy to realize it.

Mary Karr wrote the poem “Bayou” about her deceased father and the ties that remained strong as she fished in a place he loved. Here’s an excerpt:

And when the alligator drops

his second eyelid like a veil, I wonder

if you keep some pearly watch through cloud

or mist…Without your balance or grace,

I somehow reach the reeds, bait my hook

and cast, feel your strength in the sudden

tug, the shining line like a cord

strung through me, plucked and singing.