Richard Schnap’s most recent poem to appear here was “Decision” (March 2017)
Becoming My Father
By Richard Schnap
I put on the light blue shirt
The diagonally striped silk tie
Step into the khaki pants
Slip into the wing tip shoes
And suddenly feel transformed
Into a man that I barely knew
Who told me once that love
Was something that men didn’t do
As I come to understand why
He gave his devotion to things
Paintings of lonely landscapes
Books on the tragedies of man
Now I stand facing myself
In a mirror and see him there
A ghost whose eyes still betray
The sorrow he bore alone
Wow, Richard, this is great. What a picture.
Very sad these memories. I hope your image shows that Love does come to men.
“Who told me once that love
Was something that men didn’t do.”