Another Letter from Another Father to Another Son
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"Another Letter from Another Father to Another Son" is an English poem by the Indian poet Mathew John. The poem was a surprise winner of the first prize[1] in the All India Poetry Competition conducted by The Poetry Society (India) in 2013.
Excerpts from the poem
- Sonny, it is not my wish to advise you
- Though my tongue yearns to be advisor to the king.
- Sonny, it is not my wish to advise you
- Though this may end up as another piece of advice
- In another letter from another father to another son.
- *******
- For, it took years for my father's sermons
- To traverse the miles between my ears and my brain
- And I learnt about most things
- After enough follies had been past.
- Let me tell you a single thing
- The way to go, seems to me
- From life to the book
- And not the other way around.
- *******
- So, let life teach you before your father's words
- And let life teach you to outgrow
- The interesting stories that other people tell.
- For, nobody is really very sure.
- Earlier they used to tell
- Never look beyond the wall
- Now, they have built
- A ladder for you to climb.
- ******
- But, nobody is really very sure
- About the wall, forget the ladder.
- Very few boxes have been opened, my son
- It is still an interesting world out there.
- So, let me not offer you
- A book, a window, a jigsaw puzzle or my reading glasses
- Let me give you just these –
- My silence and my smile.
See also
Notes
- ^ "Award Winners - All India Poetry Competition 2013". Archived from the original on 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2014-04-04.