Lesson Poem by Forrest Hamer

Lesson

Rating: 3.0


It was 1963 or 4, summer,
and my father was driving our family
from Ft. Hood to North Carolina in our 56 Buick.
We'd been hearing about Klan attacks, and we knew

Mississippi to be more dangerous than usual.
Dark lay hanging from the trees the way moss did,
and when it moaned light against the windows
that night, my father pulled off the road to sleep.

Noises
that usually woke me from rest afraid of monsters
kept my father awake that night, too,
and I lay in the quiet noticing him listen, learning
that he might not be able always to protect us

from everything and the creatures besides;
perhaps not even from the fury suddenly loud
through my body about his trip from Texas
to settle us home before he would go away

to a place no place in the world
he named Viet Nam. A boy needs a father
with him, I kept thinking, fixed against noise
from the dark.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Sansika Uthayakumar 31 March 2012

wow i can really feel the moments it's a really nice poem i really liked the way u started your poem

5 3 Reply
Godwin Clement 30 March 2012

Brilliant piece Forrest.

4 3 Reply
Indira Babbellapati 30 March 2012

brilliant... lessons in living!

4 3 Reply
Richard Post 30 March 2012

very good, helped me feel the moments and the times past

5 2 Reply
Besa Dede 31 March 2012

A good narration poem, Forest. Thank you for sharing

4 2 Reply
L Milton Hankins 31 August 2020

This is a wonderful poem celebrating fatherhood. Most of us will never know the anguish a parent experiences when placing their children in potential danger. Hamer makes the point admireably.

0 0 Reply
Mahtab Bangalee 30 May 2019

it's an excellent poetic expression- Noises that usually woke me from rest afraid of monsters.........//

0 0 Reply
* Sunprincess * 27 May 2014

.........oh so very sad his father is leaving for vietnam......great write..

1 1 Reply
Paul Sebastian 31 March 2014

An experience of your life, felt deeply and expressed well.

1 1 Reply
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0 2 Reply
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