Our Fathers

Ever since seeing the movie Smoke Signals several years ago, I've occasionally thought about the poem "How Do We Forgive Our Fathers" by Dick Lourie.  It's an incredibly powerful poem, and I don't think I fully understand the whole meaning behind it, but maybe that's the point.  It's a beautiful poem no matter how you look at it, and you can read it many times and interpret it differently each time.  Maybe I like it so much because I think my dad would have liked it (or maybe he did, I don't know if he ever read it).  As a disclaimer, I can't really think of anything I ever needed to forgive my father for, but this poem makes me think of him nonetheless.  This is an emotional poem and my father was an emotional guy.

How Do We Forgive Our Fathers? by Dick Lourie

How do we forgive our Fathers?
Maybe in a dream
Do we forgive our Fathers for leaving us too often or forever
when we were little?
Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage
or making us nervous
because there never seemed to be any rage there at all.
Do we forgive our Fathers for marrying or not marrying our Mothers?
For Divorcing or not divorcing our Mothers?
And shall we forgive them for their excesses of warmth or coldness?
Shall we forgive them for pushing or leaning
for shutting doors
for speaking through walls
or never speaking
or never being silent?
Do we forgive our Fathers in our age or in theirs
or their deaths
saying it to them or not saying it?
If we forgive our Fathers what is left?

This version of the poem was altered from the original version for the movie Smoke Signals, but I like this version.  I read that Sherman Alexie half-jokingly said that he wrote the book/screenplay for Smoke Signals to lead up to the poem at the end.  Incidentally the original book is called Lone Ranger and Tonto:  Fistfight In Heaven.
If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it.  Spoiler Alert:  The following video is the scene from the end of Smoke Signals where Tomas reads the poem.

This post is dedicated to my Dad, Grandfather, and Lee, Lynn, and Duane McPherson (picture swiped from Lynn's facebook page).