Today, at the Oregon Writing Project, we were asked to read "The Lightkeeper" by Carloyn Forché and write about who keeps the light on for us. I wrote this poem about my son.
Keeping the Fire
We’re the good guys.
We’re keeping the fire.
The man and the boy used this sacred mantra
To carry them down McCarthy’s Road
And when I put down the book
I hugged Noah fiercely
Then waited till he slept
Kissed his forehead
And thanked him.
He once needed me
To change his diapers
To keep him warm
To feed him
To sing, sometimes for hours, until he slept
To wake in the middle of the night to make sure his chest rose and fell
But I always needed him more.
I will always need him more.
He makes me keep the fire.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
While editing this, I learned something new. I thought I'd used the wrong "till", and that I should change it to "'til" because it's short for "until". Apparently, "till" is correct!
"Till vs. ’til.
From wsu.edu:
"Since it looks like an abbreviation for “until,” some people argue that this word should always be spelled “’til” (though not all insist on the apostrophe). However, “till” has regularly occurred as a spelling of this word for over 800 years and it’s actually older than “until.” It is perfectly good English."
For a longer explanation, check this out:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-unt1.htm
And you said you were not much of a poet.
-Sam
Thanks. I've been getting a lot more practice thanks to the OWP. You should really check it out some summer. You'd love it.
Post a Comment