a song for father’s day and a summer blog break

June 18, 2021June 18, 2021 ~ jama ~ 58 Comments

Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling . . .

Whenever I hear this song, I think of my dad.

Since he was such a passionate music lover, there are many songs that remind me of him, but none touches me as deeply as “Danny Boy.”

When I was growing up, music was that special something we could do together. With my brother it was fishing, but with me, James loved to play his harmonica while I accompanied him on the piano.

First, he would line up his instruments — he had several Hohner Chromonicas and a couple of diatonic harmonicas in different keys.

Then we would play our way through my stack of sheet music and piano books — folk songs, church hymns, patriotic songs, show tunes (Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, Lerner and Loewe), semi-classical pieces, Strauss waltzes, drinking songs/sea shanties, Christmas carols, on and on.

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three poems from My Daddy Rules the World by Hope Anita Smith

June 16, 2017September 9, 2017 ~ jama ~ 37 Comments

Happy Poetry Friday and Happy Father’s Day Weekend!

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate all the cool dads in the world than with Hope Anita Smith’s brand new poetry picture book, My Daddy Rules the World: Poems About Dads (Henry Holt, 2017).

Through fifteen heartwarming poems told in a child’s voice, Smith captures the singular bond between father and child as evidenced in everyday activities such as eating, dancing, playing music, and reading. Smith focuses on those small, intimate moments and interactions that mean so much to children, and every one of these gems brims with pride, adoration and pure love.

MY DADDY

My daddy is a porcupine
with whiskers that are prickly.

My daddy is an octopus
who finds where I am tickly

My daddy is a tall giraffe
who lifts me to the sky.

My daddy is a sea eagle
who teaches me to fly.

My daddy is a wise old owl
who stays up late at night.

My daddy is a big brown bear
with arms that hug me tight.

The poems are paired with Smith’s beautiful torn paper collages that feature fathers, sons and daughters in a variety of skin tones without facial features. I love how Hope is able to convey so much warmth and emotion through body language: an affectionate tilt of the head, a concerned hand lifting a chin, the reassurance of Dad holding the bike seat, being encircled in Dad’s arms as he reads aloud or teaches guitar.

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sunday bear: li-young lee

June 17, 2012October 2, 2017 ~ jama ~ 5 Comments

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.

***

♥ 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. ☺