"Bearhug," a poem by Michael Ondaatje (1989)


	"Bearhug," a poem by Michael Ondaatje (1989)

enbar

4-20-2008 5:51 PM

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tags:

literature, poetry, parenting, children, art, cool

enbar says:

A poem about being a father.

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4-21-2008 3:21 PM

carrerinyes

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/bc2e0140-64e4-4c0f-802b-73bdb1bb2d35/E7CF08CD-FBFF-41A7-A0A4-1FA158885B26/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/enewsletter/Poetry08/20_ondaatje.html" href="http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/enewsletter/Poetry08/20_ondaatje.html" style="font-size: 11px;">www.randomhouse.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/enewsletter/Poetry08/20_ondaatje.html"><table background="undefined" bgcolor=""><tr><TD width="600"><FONT size="2" face="verdana, helvetica, sans-serif">

<B>Bearhug</B></FONT><P>
<FONT size="2" face="verdana, helvetica, sans-serif">Griffin calls to come and kiss him goodnight
I yell ok. Finish something I'm doing, 
then something else, walk slowly round
the corner to my son's room.
He is standing arms outstretched
waiting fir a bearhug. Grinning.
</FONT></P><P>
<FONT size="2" face="verdana, helvetica, sans-serif">Why do I give my emotion an animal's name, 
give it that dark squeeze of death? 
This is the hug which collects
all his small bones and his warm neck against me.
The thin tough body under the pyjamas
locks me like a magnet of blood.
</FONT></P><P>
<FONT size="2" face="verdana, helvetica, sans-serif">How long was he standing there<BR /><DIV>
like that, before I came?</DIV>

</FONT></P><P>
</P></TD></tr></table></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/enewsletter/Poetry08/20_ondaatje.html"><DIV>
Excerpt from THE CINNAMON PEELER. Copyright © 1989 by Michael Ondaatje. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.</DIV></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/E7CF08CD-FBFF-41A7-A0A4-1FA158885B26/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>