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May 22nd, 2013 - we have 234 poets, 8,025 poems and 56,671 comments.
Li-Young Lee - A Story

Sad is the man who is asked for a story
and can't come up with one.

His five-year-old son waits in his lap.
Not the same story, Baba. A new one.
The man rubs his chin, scratches his ear.

In a room full of books in a world
of stories, he can recall
not one, and soon, he thinks, the boy
will give up on his father.

Already the man lives far ahead, he sees
the day this boy will go. Don't go!
Hear the alligator story! The angel story once more!
You love the spider story. You laugh at the spider.
Let me tell it!

But the boy is packing his shirts,
he is looking for his keys. Are you a god,
the man screams, that I sit mute before you?
Am I a god that I should never disappoint?

But the boy is here. Please, Baba, a story?
It is an emotional rather than logical equation,
an earthly rather than heavenly one,
which posits that a boy's supplications
and a father's love add up to silence.

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Added: Feb 20 2003 | Viewed: 18348 times | Comments and analysis of A Story by Li-Young Lee Comments (34)

A Story - Comments and Information

Poet: Li-Young Lee
Poem: A Story
Volume: The City In Which I Love You
Poem of the Day: Jun 5 2010

Comment 34 of 34, added on May 14th, 2013 at 2:25 PM.
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Comment 33 of 34, added on May 14th, 2013 at 9:59 AM.
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Comment 32 of 34, added on May 14th, 2013 at 9:51 AM.
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