I not real understand this poem
Wordsmith
by Susan Young
In my mind I call my
father the Pollyfilla king,
watch with something akin to awe
as he begins the arduous process
of filling in the gaps, the long winded
cracks that travel down the walls of my house
like run on sentences.
From the sidelines I watch as he
trudges up and down the stairs, carrying
with nonchalance an industrial-sized bucket,
shiny spatula tucked into back pocket
for easy access.
Over and over again
with precision and grace
he fills and smooths and sands
as filling in all of the empty crevices
with the words he didn’t know how to say,
the lost syllables and consonants springing up
from the bucket, stubbornly announcing themselves
home, until there is only smoothness,
my fifty eight year old house a perfect sentence,
the veritable sheen of its walls
privy to this father of mine,
whose love keeps him moving
from room to room, brightly asking,
Do you think you’ll be painting the other room
upstairs sometime? I could start work on it now.
Then it’ll be ready for painting later.
Yes, I say, yes,
my face aglow.
i have to tell abt relationship b/w father and daughter and father.
Pollyfilla is a brand of plaster-like stuff that is used for filling cracks in plaster.
I believe in this poem Pollyfilla is used in its real meaning as well as a metaphor for the father smoothing relationships with his daughter. It serves as a substitute for loving words. He apparently isn't comfortable expressing his love verbally -- but shows his love with actions.
thanks very much ms. sue :) i doing contrast of this to this story. should i post story on here if you can read it? i writing essay and telling difference of relationships of father and children.
I agree that Sam was not very nice to his kids. But, I think we should also remember that he'd suffered a lot be coming to this country and working so hard. He was very careful with his money.
thanks very much ms sue :)
so for thesis statement i say that both poem and story give two different ways of father giving their children affection?
so father in poem and girl respectful of each other, the boys in short story not respectful of father?
thanks very much ms. sue :) i just not understand the ending of the story, why the father be mad when son ask for a second coat? and then when he say its for his child, then he got happy. why did he go all happy?
That puzzled me too. But perhaps the father was so used to denying his sons material things, but saw his grandson in a different way. As my father said years ago, "My grandchildren aren't my responsibility."
You're very welcome.