Portal:Poetry/poem archive/Week 37 2006

Step on His Head

:by James Laughlin

"Let's step on daddy's head",

Shout the children, my dear children,

As we walk in the country

On a sunny summer day.

My shadow bobs dark on the road as we walk

And they jump on its head, and my love for them

Fills me all full of soft feelings.

Now I duck with my head, so they'll miss when they jump

And they screech with delight, and I moan

"Oh, you're hurting, you're hurting me! Stop!"

And they jump all the harder,

And love fills the whole road.

But I see it run on through the years,

And I know how someday they must jump and it won't

Be this shadow, but really my head

As I stepped on my own father's head.

It will hurt, really hurt,

And I wonder if then, if I'll have enough love.

Will I have love enough when it's not just a game?