sunday bear: li-young lee

~ jama
“Chad” (Bialosky by Gund, 1985)

The Gift
by Li-Young Lee

To pull the metal splinter from my palm
my father recited a story in a low voice.
I watched his lovely face and not the blade.
Before the story ended, he’d removed
the iron sliver I thought I’d die from.
I can’t remember the tale,
but hear his voice still, a well
of dark water, a prayer.
And I recall his hands,
two measures of tenderness
he laid against my face,
the flames of discipline
he raised above my head.
Had you entered that afternoon
you would have thought you saw a man
planting something in a boy’s palm,
a silver tear, a tiny flame.
Had you followed that boy
you would have arrived here,
where I bend over my wife’s right hand.
Look how I shave her thumbnail down
so carefully she feels no pain.
Watch as I lift the splinter out.
I was seven when my father
took my hand like this,
and I did not hold that shard
between my fingers and think,
Metal that will bury me,
christen it Little Assassin,
Ore Going Deep for My Heart.
And I did not lift up my wound and cry,
Death visited here!
I did what a child does
when he’s given something to keep.
I kissed my father.
~ from Rose, copyright © 1986 Li-Young Lee  (BOA Editions, Ltd.).
***
♥ Today’s Sunday Bear Hug is brought to you by Mr. Cornelius, who wishes everyone a Happy Father’s Day. He would also like you to have a piece of lemon meringue pie, favorite of Jama’s father James. ☺
((((((HUGS))))))((((((FATHERS)))))))((((((((HUGS)))))
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Copyright © 2012 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

5 thoughts on “sunday bear: li-young lee”

  3. A metal splinter – shrapnel? “death visited here” indeed. And yet – a kiss is something better to keep. So, so beautiful.

    Wishes for a lovely day to Papa James!

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