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You are here: Home / Poetry / We Don’t Often Talk About Fathers
We Don’t Often Talk About Fathers

Poetry

We Don’t Often Talk About Fathers

I always questioned who my father was
before the hair decided
to settle between his chest,
Before he was sentenced to manhood,
Was he a believer of far-off things?
Would we have been friends?
Did he fight for possession of the brownie whisk
with the entire fist of his mouth?
 
I wonder if on his road,
He carried his hopes in his bindle,
And if he will ever get around to leaving them wide-open again.
 
Dad,
You are a mighty thing
of your father’s distance
and your mother’s vocabulary,
But who were you?
Who were you before we each
had to assemble at your love,
And spoon from that which you did not have to offer?

Triston Dabney is an undergraduate Oprah Winfrey Scholar from Baltimore, Maryland. He hopes to pursue a career in higher education.

Featured Artwork:

Hole in the Wall Shanghai (上海)

L. Acadia is a lit professor at National Taiwan University with photography published or forthcoming in Autostraddle, FERAL: A Journal of Poetry and Art, Reservoir Road Literary Review, Santa Fe Literary Review, Sycamore Review (featured artist), and Tree and Stone Magazine.
Twitter and Instagram: @acadialogue

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