Lauren Masino - Roethke and Salinas Blog Post

 Both of these poems are about the writers’ fathers. Although they convey different messages they also have one in common. 

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Thoedore Roethke is a bit of a tug at our heart strings. The poem is about the abuse he received from his drunken dad. But the more we read the poem, the more we realized he was still obsessed with his dad. He “hung on like death” to him (line 3). He even ends the poem with “still clinging to your shirt”. This expresses that although he was scared of his father and the drunk abuse, he was able to look past that and up to his father and love him. It is an interesting dynamic and is hard for me to understand. I cannot imagine loving and being obsessed with someone that hurts me. It seems that the love we hold for our family can override that fear. 

The next poem, “My Father is a Simple Man”, by Luis Omar Salinas, does not portray abuse as the previous poem does. It shows a more civil and peaceful relationship between a father and his son. The similarity this poem has to the last is how the young boy looks up and appreciates his father. We see him ask his father for advice, specifically about death. The father tells his son that he is not afraid of it but he does not wish to die. This shows that he is a simple man because he does not overthink things. Death is something that someone can overthink very easily, but his father expects that it is bound to happen and goes on living his life. The son is then able to realize that the key is not to become greatly known and famous, but rather figure life out yourself to share with your loved ones. He looks to his father to understand the simplicity life holds. 

Both poems show appreciation for their fathers, although in two very different ways. It is interesting to read poems with the same message, yet very different approaches back to back to compare. It also makes me interred in learning about each author’s personal life, to see where these stories have come from. 


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