It’s not surprising that in the aftermath of my father’s death, I’m thinking a lot about poems that have "Dad" themes. Indonesian-born poet Li-Young Lee writes about fathers a great deal, and this is one of my favorites. I make up stories for nieces and nephews and other children in my life, and I hunger to share them with my own children. I am so rarely at a loss for words — but as this poem points out, sudden silence sometimes comes without warning.
Story
Sad is the man who is asked for a story
and can’t come up with one.
His five-year-old son waits in his lap.
Not the same story, Baba. A new one.
The man rubs his chin, scratches his ear.
In a room full of books in a world
of stories, he can recall
not one, and soon, he thinks, the boy
will give up on his father.
Already the man lives far ahead, he sees
the day this boy will go. Don’t go!
Hear the alligator story! The angel story once more!
You love the spider story. You laugh at the spider.
Let me tell it!
But the boy is packing his shirts,
he is looking for his keys. Are you a god,
the man screams, that I sit mute before you?
Am I a god that I should never disappoint?
But the boy is here. Please, Baba, a story?
It is an emotional rather than logical equation,
an earthly rather than heavenly one,
which posits that a boy’s supplications
and a father’s love add up to silence.
What a wonderful poem, Hugo. I was deeply moved, as I was the one time I was fortunate enough to hear Li-Young Lee give a reading. Thank you for sharing it.
A beautiful poem, Hugo. I love the line, “It is an emotional rather than logical equation.” Aye, indeed.