Daddy Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

At the other end of the telescope
Fifty-five years ago,
I see my dad sitting on the floor,
Leaning against the wall in our rented house
In Madurai, eating, munching happily.

In the evening, on way back from office,
He had brought a packet of sweets for four annas
Made of groundnut kernel and jaggery:
There were sixteen pieces
With mom, and a brother, we were four.

I remember we enjoyed the time
So much, cracking jokes, making fun
Pure fun of everything, everyone.
I recall dad doubling with laughter,
Explaining how one chettiar with a big paunch
Described the place where an ant was moving
On his stomach.. on the south-west corner, he said.

Later I remember him on an easy chair
Reading Jerome K Jerome’s
Three Men in a Boat,
And again laughing uncontrollably.

He was real Cancer-born male.

21.02.08