The Poetry of Dad
February 15, 2010

There have been a few occasions in my father's life when he has been moved to poetic flights. I know he wrote my mom a Valentine when we were kids called, "A Valentine Lament," but I can't remember what it said.

On another occasion, after I received a particularly low grade on a high school English paper I was particularly proud of, he wrote me a poem in a dad-attempt to make me feel better:



Dear Stephanie,
I have read your report
Of my Midsummer Night's sport
and I want you to know
from this poet of long ago,
that your teacher's retort
truly merits little support.
But having so stated,
I fear you are fated,
to be content with your score,
of a mediocre 74.

-W. Shakespeare

This year, after visiting an RV show where, it would appear, lots of cajoling to upgrade their current RV went on, my father gave my mother the following Valentine.

OK, so here's the deal
I've searched Hallmark
But could find nothing real
When two people have been married this many years
Lots of water has gone around the piers
I could say I love and cherish you
Which, of course, is very true
And that my only really good friend is none other than you
But when all else is said and done
I can truly say traveling life's journey with you
Has been really fun
Now if only our RV could be a little bigger
I could get out of bed feeling a little more chipper.

This September 11, my parents will have been married 45 years, and my dad is still writing poems to my mom. (Sure, they're poems about RVs but still! Poems!)

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