Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WHEN DAD TAKES ME, by DOUGLAS MALLOCH


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WHEN DAD TAKES ME, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My dad sometimes some little trip
Last Line: "that boy, with my consent, again."
Subject(s): Fathers


My dad sometimes some little trip
Takes me along -- and, my, it's fun!
He puts my (you know) in his grip,
A suit (not this, my Sunday one),
And other things that Mother, too,
Says I will need. (I never do.)

I'd always rather go with dad
Than go with her. (Oh, goodness me,
Of course I love her, course I'm glad
That she's my mother -- as can be.)
But when my mother lets me go
With dad! -- well, lots of things, you know.

For instance, Father doesn't scrub
Me night and day and all the time.
My mother keeps me in a tub
And says it really is a crime
How dirty children (me she means)
Can get, no matter how one cleans.

But Father, huh, he doesn't care,
Ask "How's your neck?" or "How's your ears?"
Or worry what you have to wear,
Or if a button disappears,
Dad doesn't watch you day and night
And say you simply are a fright.

Then we get home. "Just see that child,"
My mother says, "as black as ink!
I knew you'd leave him running wild.
My goodness, what will people think!
You'll never take -- my, my, these men! --
That boy, with my consent, again."





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