poetry-magazineStunt DoubleBy Tomás Q. MorínIn this life, there are starsand there are stunt doubles.Before I became one of those fathersobsessed… Related Audio LoveSocial CommentariesClassRace & EthnicityLivingParenthoodRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsFriends & EnemiesActivitiesSchool & LearningSports & Outdoor ActivitiesArts & SciencesReading & BooksFather's DayAngerDisappointmentJoy & ContentmentOptimism + 12 more
The Same CityBy Terrance HayesThe rain falling on a night in mid-December, I pull to my father’s engine wondering how long I’ll … Related Audio LoveReligionGod & the DivineLivingParenthoodRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsChristmasFather's Day + 2 more
Lines to My FatherBy Countee CullenThe many sow, but only the chosen reap; Happy the wretched host if Day be brief, That with the cool …ReligionLivingGrowing OldLife ChoicesParenthoodRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsFather's DayGriefOptimism + 3 more
Father’s Day for Gay BoysBy Dan VeraOne beside another—brothers Seven diviners of what lies beyond the truths we have uncovered. One makes…LoveRealistic & ComplicatedSocial CommentariesGender & SexualityLivingLife ChoicesThe MindDoubt & ContemplationMemory & NostalgiaRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsLGBTQ+Father's DayAnxiety & InsecurityGriefJoy & Contentment + 9 more
All My Pretty OnesBy Anne SextonFather, this year’s jinx rides us apart where you followed our mother to her cold slumber; a second …LivingDeathParenthoodRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsArts & SciencesPhilosophyFather's DayStanza FormsRhymed StanzaTechniquesConfessional + 5 more
Poem to My Child, If Ever You Shall BeBy Ross GayThe way the universe sat waiting to become, quietly, in the nether of space and time, you too remain…LivingBirth & BirthdaysParenthoodBirthFather's Day
Those Winter SundaysBy Robert HaydenSundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands…LivingComing of AgeRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsHome LifeArts & SciencesPhilosophyGratitude & ApologiesFather's Day + 2 more
The Giant Water BugBy Douglas FlorianThe giant water bug can lug His eggs upon his back. He gives them extra care up there And guards them…NatureAnimalsRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsFather's DayAnimalsHolidays
Bewitched PlaygroundBy David RivardEach could picture probably with great care his brother drawing the corded string of a watered silk…LivingParenthoodArts & SciencesPhilosophyFather's DayMetersFree Verse
His StillnessBy Sharon OldsThe doctor said to my father, “You asked me to tell you when nothing more could be done. That’s what…LivingDeathHealth & IllnessRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsFather's DayMetersFree Verse
DiggingBy Seamus HeaneyBetween my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. Under my window, a clean rasping… Related Audio RelationshipsFamily & AncestorsActivitiesGardeningArts & SciencesPoetry & PoetsFather's Day
Supernatural LoveBy Gjertrud SchnackenbergMy father at the dictionary-stand Touches the page to fully understand The lamplit answer, tilting…ReligionRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsArts & SciencesReading & BooksFather's Day
On my First SonBy Ben JonsonFarewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; My sin was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy. Seven years…LivingDeathParenthoodSorrow & GrievingFather's DayStanza FormsCoupletTypes/ModesElegyEpigramGrief + 4 more
The Lost PilotBy James TateYour face did not rot like the others—the co-pilot, for example, I saw him yesterday. His face is …Social CommentariesWar & ConflictLivingDeathLife ChoicesSorrow & GrievingRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsFuneralsFather's DayTypes/ModesElegy + 5 more
CarpentryBy Carl DennisCarpenters whose wives have run off Are sometimes discovered weeping on the job. But even then they…ActivitiesJobs & WorkingArts & SciencesPoetry & PoetsFather's DayMetersFree Verse
Father and SonBy Delmore SchwartzFather: On these occasions, the feelings surprise, Spontaneous as rain, and they compel Explicitness…LivingComing of AgeDeathParenthoodArts & SciencesPhilosophyFather's DayGrief
The Little Boy LostBy William BlakeFather, father, where are you going O do not walk so fast.Speak father, speak to your little boy Or …LivingParenthoodRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsArts & SciencesPhilosophyFather's DayBlameDisappointment + 2 more
Danse RusseBy William Carlos WilliamsIf I when my wife is sleeping and the baby and Kathleen are sleeping and the sun is a flame-white disc…RelationshipsFamily & AncestorsHome LifeFather's DayMetersFree VerseJoy & Contentment
The Cane-Bottom’d ChairBy William Makepeace ThackerayIn tattered old slippers that toast at the bars,And a ragged old jacket perfumed with cigars,Away from…LivingGrowing OldRelationshipsHome LifeFather's DayJoy & Contentment
To Her Father with Some VersesBy Anne BradstreetMost truly honoured, and as truly dear,If worth in me or ought I do appear,Who can of right better demand…LivingParenthoodRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsFather's DayVerse FormsSonnetOptimism