A Poem For Sunday

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18 May 2008 10:20 am

"The Story of the Father" by Tony Hoagland

This is another story that I often think about:
the story of the father

after the funeral of his son the suicide,
going home and burning all the photographs of that dead boy;

standing next to the backyard barbecue,
feeding the pictures to the fire; watching the pale smoke
rise and disappear into the humid Mississippi sky.

Aware that he is standing at the edge of some great border,
ignorant that he is hogging all the pain.

How quiet the suburbs are in the middle of an afternoon
                  when a man is destroying evidence,
breathing in the chemistry of burning Polaroids,

watching the trees over the rickety fence
               seem to lift and nod in recognition.

Later, he will be surprised
            by the anger of his family:
the wife hiding her face in her hands,
               the daughter calling him names

—but for now, he is certain of his act;