Father and Son

My grandfather and father in Valois Quebec, Canada, 1967

When my grandfather and father were alone together they used to have long conversations about my father’s business. Years later, I would overhear my father having the same conversations with my brother about my brother’s business. The conversations were very intense, but the men’s body language communicated such ease and apparent enjoyment of the ritual.

They would be saying, “Fiscal earnings, backup orders, field problems, economical trends, inventory reductions”, but what they were really saying was, “So glad to see you, you are dear to me, I am proud of you … I love you.”

Today’s poem is a gorgeous, raw, genuine portrayal of that intense instinctive rush of love a father experiences for his son.