When There is a Hole in the Ground the Earth will Notice.
That last act of every father is to hurt his child
He lives to die before them
And his children wait for this
With dread if they are lucky
With indifference if they are not
But when there is a hole in the ground the earth will notice.
Fathers must always stumble with the love that comes with a child
They do not bear them; so they have no affidavit of agonized sacrifice
They never feed them body-to-body
Nor do they carry them on their too narrow hips for hours on end
But when there is a hole in the ground the earth will notice.
Fathers must not notice that their daughters practice marriage with them
Until you are divorced from them
By that one successful suitor to whom you must give her away
With that lump in your throat that stops you from crying out loud,
“What about me?”
But when there is a hole in the ground the earth will notice.
That son who has first made you his idol and then his ambition
Who will try to best you at all things
That son who could think your life and your death is too much for him to bear
That son who deserves room to perch
Above you at least once before you go
So he has no ghost of you to haunt him
But when there is a hole in the ground the earth will notice.
