January 2015

Advice to a Son

          by Gary Metras

Even Grendel

had a worried parent,

brooding over the boy’s journeys from the den,

knowing his small needs

are huge and real,

his little temper touched off by what is not his.

Son of mine, you are not mine alone,

though I lay claim to you,

as you do me.

Know that we have rooted ourselves

this little while in each other,

that the roots are deep

and intertwined,

that I must twist them tighter

to save myself,

that you will pull and rip and tear them

as you can.

You, be a strong tree with searching roots,

be the self you cannot yet see.

And learn of Beowulf

before he learns of you.

Gary Metras has two new books of poems in 2015, Captive in the Here (Cervena Barva Press) and The Moon in the Pool (Presa Press). He is the editor and letterpress printer of Adastra Press in Easthampton, MA.