I Have My Father's Voice (Van-Wyk)

I Have M Father s Voice

Chris an W k

When I alk into a room
here m father has j st been
I fill the same spaces he did
from the elbo s on the table
to the head thro n back
and hen e la gh e aim the g ffa
at the same space in the air
Before an bod has told me this I kno
beca se I see m self thro gh
m father s e es

When I as a pigeon toed bo
m father sed his oice
to send me to bed
to r n and b the ne spaper
to scribble m a thro gh matric

He also sed his oice for harsher things
to bl ster hen e made a noise
hen the kitchen asn t cleaned after s pper
hen I as o t too late

Late for ork on man mornings
one sock in hand its t in
an angr glint in his e es he flings
dirt clothes o t of the ashing bo
ests jeans pants and shirts sho ting
anagrams of fee fo fi f m ntil he is p
to his knees in a stinking heap of la ndr

I ha e m father s oice too
and his f ming temper
and I sho t as he does

B t I spe the ords o t
in pairs of alliteration
and an air of assonance

E er thing a poet needs
m father has beq eathed me
e cept the ords