My Father’s Song by SIMON ORTIZ

 ACTIVITY •

Spend some time reading the following poem by Simon Ortiz closely.

Analyze how the poem’s style and structure help the reader understand why

the speaker needs his father’s song and what that song might be.

My Father’s Song

SIMON ORTIZ

Wanting to say things,

I miss my father tonight.

His voice, the slight catch,

the depth from his thin chest,

the tremble of emotion 5

in something he has just said

to his son, his song:

We planted corn one Spring at Acu —

we planted several times

but this one particular time 10

I remember the soft damp sand

in my hand.

My father had stopped at one point

to show me an overturned furrow;

the plowshare had unearthed 15

the burrow nest of a mouse

in the soft moist sand.

Very gently, he scooped tiny pink animals

into the palm of his hand

and told me to touch them. 20

We took them to the edge

of the field and put them in the shade

of a sand moist clod.

I remember the very softness

of cool and warm sand and tiny alive mice 25

and my father saying things.

[1977]