Poets Salon: Fathers and Sons

POETS SALON

Frog Prince (Photo courtesy of Kath Abela)

– 06/23/21

Hosted by Kath Abela Wilson

not a son but almost

I was his favorite left the boys at home. I was the one he took with him to the game and I who was to succeed him, poet, feature writer, journalist

the frog
who turned princess
first love

~ Kath Abela

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Changeling. Drawing by Tim Callahan

Tim Callahan

Changeling

How could he have sired this child,
this dreamy child, his feckless youngest?
His was a world of sales and practicality, of responsibilities,
of supporting a family of five on one income..
But this kid – he couldn’t even do his math right!
“I don’t know why the hell you can’t get this.
It’s math, so cut and dried, so simple.”

Set him to mow the lawn and you’d find him,
hours later, looking under rocks
for red centipedes and spotted salamanders.
The boy forgot to come in on time,
stayed out in the dark.
Said he was watching the moon,
watching it slide through silvered clouds
He had his mind on Saturn’s rings and steaming jungles,
on ancient myths and dinosaurs
– and forgot to do his homework.

He had to redo algebra in summer school
and struggled to get a “C.”
Drawing all the time – what good was that?
Then he said he’d be an artist.
“How the hell do you expect to make a living?”
He didn’t answer – but kept drawing.

And in the night, the velvet night,
watching the moon glide through silver clouds,
the son would wonder:
“How could he be my father?”

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The Jewel (Photo – Michael Czarnecki)

Michael Czarnecki

Jewels

My son drives out from house
two minutes later phone rings
his voice excited, gently commanding
“Dad, the sun is like a jewel on the horizon
you need to hurry, it won’t last long.”
We hang up, I hurriedly
put on shoes, run out of house
thinking, he doesn’t realize
there’s no time to get to what he saw
it was his sun, his jewel, fading fast
hanging on the horizon
suspended for his moment.
As much as I want to see it
want to share his experience
I can’t
no matter how fast
this old body stumbles through
darkening woods.

My excitement, my jewel
was his calling
his wanting to share
this moment of joy
moment of connection
with something other than self.

No need for anything else.

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Sunset (Photo – Michael Czarnecki)

Fathers and Sons: Quotes and Credits

Tim Callahan: “In European folklore, the fair-folk (fairies, elves etc., more like Tolkien’s version than Shakespeare’s) would sometimes steal human babies, leaving one of their own in the human infant’s place. This odd child, a changeling, though raised as human, would always be strange. I am an artist and worked in the animation industry for over 20 years. I’ve written poetry, somewhat sporadically, since I was in my thirties. In 2011, I decided to write poetry on a regular basis. So, I joined the Poets On Site, run by Kathabela Wilson, meeting every Friday on the Caltech campus, as well as meeting in the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden every Thursday. I write, on average, a poem a week. My poetry has been published in the Altadena Poetry Review, 2016 through 2020 editions; the Journal of Modern Poetry, editions 20 and 21;the Highland Park Poetry Challenge: Monsters, Electricity and Golden Shovel; The tanka journal Bright Stars 2; and Stone Lantern, among others. I live with my wife, Bon, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains on the edge of the Angeles National Forest, where we are, on occasion, visited by deer, bob cats, rattlesnakes and bears.”

Michael Czarnecki lives in Wheeler Hill, NY. He’s a traveling poet who makes his living giving poetry workshops, readings all over the U.S., and publishing books with his Foothill Press. He writes daily spontaneous poems on Facebook. Michael has been a visitor and longtime partner of Poets on Site, visiting Pasadena regularly when it was easier for humans to travel! He has been hosting a weekly Tuesday night Poetry Zoom throughout the Pandemic. He has just started live readings and traveling again. You can follow his adventures, readings, press, workshops and thoughts at this link.

> Submissions are being accepted for the next Poets Salon theme: Memories of the 4th

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Send short poems, haiku, senryu, tanka, cherita haibun, tanka prose, short prose poems, etc., or your own unique approach, to Kath Abela (click here to email her directly) or via a Facebook message (@Kathabela).

1. Send directly in email or message, no attachments, except photos.
2. Suggest an original theme you would like to see, or consider:
   Openings, Taking care of one another, Encouragement, Good humor in challenging times, Consolations.
   
3. Send a short bio, and comments on the theme.
4. Send several photos or artwork by you, or a friend that would complement your writing if possible. Include one landscape (horizontal) photo or artwork.
   
5. We like to vary the poets, but please send every few months if you like, and contributions can be saved for later. Kath Abela will answer within a week from your sending.

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