weak but strong…
‘Your shoulders are shit, Sport. Probably all those dips.’
Doctor Welch first called me ‘sport’ when I was thirteen.
I had wanted to put on a little muscle, maybe go out for
football or wrestling, so Mom took me in for a physical.
Any excuse to see Peter Welch M.D. was okay by her.
She’d had a grand crush on the man ever since Dad left.
I discovered later that was the main reason for Dad’s adios.
Peter Welch had played football at SMU before med school.
Mom would always emphasize he played ‘tight end’ and giggle.
I love the woman but she’s never had both oars in the water.
‘But you said bodyweight exercises were the way to
avoid injury. What about primum non nocere? No harm?’
I felt compelled to remind the physician of his sworn
oath, a veiled attempt to justify my chosen vows of
faithfully beginning and ending each day for ten years
with chin ups and dips, the latter my forte. They were
my lauds and vigils, repetitive ups and downs, blood-flushed
prayers that Dad might come to his senses and run home.
As a senior in college I performed 6 sets of 25 reps twice a day.
That Christmas I learned my father had died back east, alone.
‘Hippocrates, Schmockrates. Your greatest strength is also
your greatest weakness, Sport. That’s the oath to swear by.’
sorrow… for this… and silence.
Thanks, Patricia…this one comes from the ‘collective-I’ – the stories of many son and fathers that I know.
We do so many things without knowing what it is we’re trying to live up to, into, or make happen.
Yours is a gift with a sting, John. All the best gifts sting a little.
Thank you, Bonnie…those ‘many things’ we do is what makes for good fiction, and sometimes mediocre poetry.
May I have the privilege of reposting this with a link to the original on my blog? I believe it will serve to help other male writers consider the many ways one can explore the influence of childhood experience. http://essediemblog.com/2012/03/07/essays-on-childhood-2012-is-open/
Elizabeth, sure you can…just so you know, the poem is pulled from several male sources.
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