The First Time I Saw My Father Drunk
The First Time I Saw My Father Drunk
By Elton Camp
In our home it always seemed fine
To have a store of beer and wine
Bottles of bourbon I began to see
It wasn’t wrong, it appeared to me
In time, my Mother began to deride
“You must keep that stuff outside.”
That a serious problem was growing
As a child, I had no way of knowing
The bottles that he hid in the hay
Full, only briefly, they would stay
Then off Father went to the store
And soon he came back with more
After a dance one Saturday night
When they came in, I heard a fight
“You were even to drunk to drive.
I don’t care whether you survive.”
Mother even had to help him walk
With a drunken slur he did talk
Mother then called out to me
“Come here. I want you to see.”
“His conduct you must not imitate.
Look and learn before it’s too late.”
It was truly just a horrible sight
And he vomited half the night
The next morning he wasn’t well
Although he had something to tell
“Last night I made myself a fool.
Never let alcohol your life rule.”
Don’t think that I’m going to say
That he never again did that way
Father still got drunk quite a bit
He knew Mother would have a fit
Only in their eighties did she force
Him to stop by threatening divorce
While moderate drinking isn’t wrong,
In our house, alcohol doesn’t belong
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a
Premium Membership.
