The field. March 8, 2022, between school & supper.
The boy stands before me, palming the ball,
wiggling it at me. "Dad. Outside?"
It's hot, I'm comfortable, but I succumb.
To the field.
Between our house & the field,
we toss the ball & watch for cars.
Then we're free. Surrounded
by the trees. Birds above nearly
drown out the leaf blowers.
He calls the play, & I
imagine a slightly future him,
throwing to an emptiness
he fills, an invisible target
he sees first.
I had almost lost the need to
sweat for fun, to daydream a
heroic me. Then the boy led me
outside.
That last stanza – whew! This feels to me like one of the moments of parenthood that we rarely discuss – how our children lead us back to who we dreamed we could be. Yesterday, I scrambled down a waterfall and leaned in to feel the mist – not something I would have done if my children hadn’t invited me into my younger imagined self.
What I love and learned from this piece:
“Between our house & the field,
we toss the ball & watch for cars.
Then we’re free. Surrounded
by the trees. Birds above nearly
drown out the leaf blowers.”
You didn’t say that you crossed the road, that there was traffic, and you both walked to a field or a park. You didn’t say that you were surrounded by homes, most likely the suburbs, a neighbourhood with houses and lawns. It’s what you didn’t say that makes this so interesting for me.
Love the way this poem comes full circle from reluctance to remembering (re-membering – a bringing together of lost parts). How going outside leads you also back inside yourself. A poem about a dad and son, going to a field to toss around a football and yet you make it easy to see so much more in the scene and beyond.
middleagedmiddlechild. 
10 responses to “outside.”
That last stanza – whew! This feels to me like one of the moments of parenthood that we rarely discuss – how our children lead us back to who we dreamed we could be. Yesterday, I scrambled down a waterfall and leaned in to feel the mist – not something I would have done if my children hadn’t invited me into my younger imagined self.
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So glad I went to read your adventure story about your family : )
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This is a great slice, a great scene. Thanks for sharing. I love those days with my boys.
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They are the best, right?
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Children teach us so much, don’t they? Especially the lesson of slow down and enjoy the moment. So goad you were able to with your son! 🙂
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What I love and learned from this piece:
“Between our house & the field,
we toss the ball & watch for cars.
Then we’re free. Surrounded
by the trees. Birds above nearly
drown out the leaf blowers.”
You didn’t say that you crossed the road, that there was traffic, and you both walked to a field or a park. You didn’t say that you were surrounded by homes, most likely the suburbs, a neighbourhood with houses and lawns. It’s what you didn’t say that makes this so interesting for me.
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thank you so much! I am trying to whittle things down : )
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Love the way this poem comes full circle from reluctance to remembering (re-membering – a bringing together of lost parts). How going outside leads you also back inside yourself. A poem about a dad and son, going to a field to toss around a football and yet you make it easy to see so much more in the scene and beyond.
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appreciate you! Oh, and there are loads of dad poems in my notebooks : )
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I would love to sweat for fun again 🙂
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