Sunday, June 20, 2010

Ode to a Jack, My Father


With ears so long
And bray so strong 
And hooves like solid rock,
You were so mighty,
Never flighty,
Always taking stock.

You never flinched
when harnessed, cinched,
You carried men or towed them.
You hauled their loads
Down dusty roads
And with a bray, you told them:

"I'll pull for you, 
I'll pack for you,
I'll cheer you when you're troubled.
I'll ease your work
With ears aperk
I'll do it on the double."

Your son—that's me—
Would like to see,
would like to nuzzle you—
We never met
but I would bet
That you would like me too.

I can't have come
From anyone
Unsavory, unhandsome . . . 
In fact, dear Jack,
I'd wager that
You'd fetch a pretty ransom.

As sire you have proved your worth
The humans chose you well
And when they placed you with a mare
Then only time would tell
But your genes passed along to me 
and mingled in with hers
To form a creature you would like,
With ears not unlike yours. 

Thank you dad,
From your wee lad,
From your own small brown mule.
You gave me life—
A Brayful life!
So ears, dear jack, to you.

Happy Fathers' Day.

Love, 
Fenway Bartholomule




5 comments:

  1. What a great poem! Thanks for making me smile, Fenway :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh Fenway - that was beautiful - I too do not know my father - but I'm sure he was a great horse.

    Mom and I just watched a mule race from Stockton - it was simply amazing - mules run really really fast - almost as fast as us quarter horses - bet it would be close if a mule and a QH raced - WOW. Wanna race?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Fen,

    Today I am thinking of my own Dad. He had some mule mind! He had nine patents on his inventions and made his own electricity. And he had a great singing voice, just like yours.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I guess I am one of the lucky ones who knew their father... we stayed with our family band until winter of our birthyear, then went to the bachelor herd.

    Boyfriend

    ReplyDelete

Thanks in Advance for Your Mulish Opinion!