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The Devouring Father
- University of Pittsburgh Press
- Chapter
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The Devouring Father He has a low, wicked laugh His belly is a melon cut in half He is fat because he has eaten all the children. Beware, young child, who wants to be a pilgrim— Dad is walking after you; Dad’s a-comin’; Dad’s shoes fall heavy on the linoleum, Heavy in the carport, Heavy in the syrup-odored pancake shop. Smack you across the chops. Smack you.You little asswipe dumbfuck. Smack you. Belt. Make you without memory and dumb. Mom lets Dad eat the children Because she doesn’t know what to do with ’em Because she hates ’em but doesn’t want to murder them herself (That would have made her a monster, instead of a long-sufferer!) She lives in a shoe; she doesn’t know what to do. Get rid of some! All along the freeways, the mountains and byways, the streams and rivers on God’s green earth— Dad’s a giant walking after you His weight, his shoes, his growl fall heavy on the trail— His six-foot-long strides soon get him where he needs to go: He smells you, he follows you, he puts a hand on each side of your neck—; But if you don’t die, if you survive To tell the tale, tell it: “The monster was really there. He was supposed to care About me, but I fled and made my kingdom elsewhere.” 68 ...