Thanksgiving Poetry Contest: I Wonder, Clarence Caddell
Clarence Caddell lives in Western Australia. He is the author of the poetry collection The True Gods Attend You (Bonfire Books, 2022) and the editor of poetry journal The Borough.
I Wonder
I wonder always what it means
To them, and may not know
Until all three are in their teens
And see me as their foe.
He always asks, “Do we live here?”
“Do you?” “Did we before?”
And like his brothers, his good cheer
Or bad is like a door
That doesn’t lock. And now, the text
“Let’s build a time machine!”—
Has it an underside? Perplexed
I ask him what he’s keen
To see… No answer. Boxes, glue,
Textas I have, and so on.
He plucks a flower, starts anew:
With a curious koan:
“What's the word for 'flower'?”
He laughs. Then later on,
“Why don't I have a superpower?”
(He's still just four, this son
Of mine.) “Well who has powers? Me?”
“What do I have?” Oh please
Don't say invisibility,
To live in imagined ease
Far from my once-real life with you!
“Super strength.” Oh, so kind!
I hug him thanks for a word as true
As that he read my mind.
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