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For Papoo

by Rula Shin


I first came to sing to a whistle
A simple symphony announcing your daily return home
You knew just how to speak to my soul
Inspiring me to harmonize with your presence

‘Do…So…Mi’ you whistled every day
My eager ears instantly knowing Paaa Pooo Paaa is back
To play out our ritual of hugs and kisses
To throw me up in the air!

So every day you whistled
I ran to you with the vigor of an elated child
Enchanted by your familiar tune
Happiness a natural dance on my scurrying feet

In the sea you threw me the highest
But my screams were shouts of laughter
In the desert you pretended we were lost forever
But being with you there was no need to be found

So many games and riddles you knew
Every doubt and question that came to me I posed to you
And when a tiny piece of my heart broke away
You gladly tipped your solid scales and gave me all of yours

All my aspirations take root in you Papoo
I owe you my passion, my voice, my will to meaning, my logic, my open views
The years donÂ’t seem so far or few
When my heart returns to the poetry that was my childhood

Despite that daddyÂ’s girl is little no more
Despite all uncertainties and terrors that riddle this world
One truth alone IÂ’ve come to know
Simple as a name whistled to the wind and sure as all children grow

You are the melody so deeply engrained within my core
Can you see that you are always whistling to me Papoo?
That eternally in timelessness daddy
IÂ’m forever running to youÂ…


10/05/2004

Author's Note: For my Father on his birthday...words do no justice to the erupting oceans of love and respect barely contained within my fiercely devoted heart...you are my WORLD... *thanks for the suggestion of using notes instead of letters from Ennem*

Posted on 10/10/2004
Copyright © 2024 Rula Shin

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Kara Hayostek on 10/10/04 at 05:56 PM

What a loving and beautiful birthday tribute. Your father is such a kind and wonderful man, truly deserving of your poetic praise :-)

Posted by Charles E Minshall on 10/10/04 at 06:18 PM

With this poem I am sure you make your Dad proud. Well done....Charlie

Posted by Max Bouillet on 10/11/04 at 03:39 AM

You say words could not do justice... an yet, your verse pulled on so many emotions while reading that I can scarely put words to how much this work impacted me. It speaks from the heart. I can only hope that I may write as adeptly when i attempt to pay tribute to members of my family. Great read.

Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 10/11/04 at 12:40 PM

Beautiful...magical expression, dedication of love Rula. Neat pet name also...Papoo. Wonderful twist to Papa or Papee.

Posted by Mahassine Mir on 10/11/04 at 12:44 PM

Just made me cry, and Rula, you know why ...

Posted by Ashok Sharda on 10/11/04 at 04:53 PM

There’s an ancient Indian saying concluding that one can never repay the Parental debt. There’s a Sanskrit prayer that places parents at par with GOD. And why not, these are the persons who have brought us into and brought us up in this world, sacrificing part of their own lives. The very presence of the father is ‘omnipresent’ in child’s eye and this omnipresent world expands with this source of courage engendering positive impulses –‘You knew just how to speak to my soul Inspiring me to harmonize with your presence.’ In the course of this ‘harmonize presence’ the other worlds start sprouting though never independent of this world. We owe them so much. They are like a WALL we can always fall back upon, “Can you see that you are always whistling to me Papoo? That eternally in timelessness daddy I’m forever running to you”. But as children grow they must replace these WALLS to make them feel safe and good. You are right in expressing this intensity of this feeling of love and indebtedness towards your father – “You are my WORLD” in your authors note. Imagine our formatory age when our world was so thickly attached to their world, when we used to derive every fulfillment from them, “To play out our ritual of hugs and kisses To throw me up in the air…Every doubt and question that came to me I posed to you!” - The pleasure, the power the meaning. We felt safe in their arms, their presence. We felt elevated when they praised us. We felt sad when they were sad. How do we recompense this indebtedness? Yes, By praising them, acknowledging their role in molding our lives, in making us what we are today. And you have done this so brilliantly on an intellectual plane expressing these feelings guided by intellect in this poetic tribute to this great man we call Father and in your loving and endearing terminology PAPOO. PS: Ephesians 6:2 Honour thy father and mother

Posted by JD Clay on 10/11/04 at 08:10 PM

This beautiful poem has a life all its own, with a heartbeat in every line. So abundant, it is impossible to foster a few. High marks here, Rula...pe4ce

Posted by Richard Vince on 10/12/04 at 12:51 PM

'Happiness a natural dance on my scurrying feet' - perfect. beautiful stuff. even if you think these words don't do justice to your love for him, he's sure to be touched by them.

Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 10/12/04 at 02:54 PM

enchanting as any tale of youth is when lived.

Posted by Amanda L Marron on 10/13/04 at 01:06 AM

awww what a great tribute to your Dad!

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