thursday poets title

A QUESTION FOR MY FATHER

What I cannot grasp
is why you held your thumbs
in your hands toward the end. . .

You who fought as a golden gloves boxer
and wore a 38 at the hip
as a surveyor for the Rock Island Line,

Who commandered jail cells
during the Great Depression
so that families might eat squares a day,

Who took 12 boats into Normandy and lost 8 off shore
including the one your were on
and survived a heart attack as well:
Why would you hold your thumbs
in your hands toward the end?

You who had the collaborators at Salzburg
shot for assassinating G.I.'s
during the early occupation,

Who supervised the resettlement of survivors
from Dachau and the transcendent
evil of the holocaust,

Who flew a C-47 to Kiev in a blizzard
when the main door blew off -
to see if Freemasons met at the Lavra in 1947:
Why would you hold your thumbs
in your hands toward the end?

You who faced off against Clare Booth Luce,
Bedell Smith and George Kennan
in a losing case for exchange,

Who quoted from memory much of Shakespeare
throughout a sample week
as you paced like Banquo's ghost,

Who was adored by your graduate students
as you put before them the presumptions of the day:
Why would you hold your thumbs
in your hands toward the end?

Was it the cold?

Art Willis 3/14/07