Remembering Him Dying by Katrina Vandenberg
It was like his teaching her to ride a bicycle
in the driveway that fall, him calling out
*I've got you*, which meant he planned to let go
any moment. He made her try again,
again; she crashed the yellow Schwinn
into the elm, cried and called him names.
If she could have looked back and kept her balance
the last time he shoved her out of his hands,
she would have seen him griefstruck, still, shrinking
as she wobbled from his shadow, into the sun-dappled road.
3 comments:
Cruel....
He shoved her into the road, into oncoming traffic no doubt!!!
hmm, not quite the point joey ;) but i guess it's all in how you read it!
I like this poem. My read..
The father is there teaching his daughter to be independent (ride the bicycle). It's not necessarily an easily lesson (crashing and name calling). After she learns to ride it on her own, she doesn't take the time to look back. She wishes that she would have looked back more while her father was alive.
That's my interpretation. There may be more to it though.
Nate
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