You’re Just Like Your Father
by Mary McCall
College of Charleston
Mary McCall recently received her Bachelor of the Arts in English with a concentration in creative writing from the College of Charleston. She also recently got another poem she wrote called "Let's stay here like this" published in the literary magazine They Call Us in their most recent publication "They Don't Call."
“You’re Just Like Your Father”
You repeat those words in your mind
until they become foreign.
You were spiraling on a never-ending slope
into the inescapable part of you that is him.
Your whole life has been dedicated to being
anything but him. “What didn’t he have?”
crosses your mind more than once a day. But
all of this is for nigh because eventually, you’ll
slip even just for a moment. You’ll lose control
and scream in a pitch so loud that your voice
gives out.
Your body will no longer belong to you as
your fist hits the wall. The pain will jolt
you back to and everyone will see the hole
you left in horror. “She’s just like him,”
they’ll think. You will try and explain the
hole is you fighting to break free from your
father but it doesn’t matter what you say.
They won’t listen. You’re just your father’s
daughter, even in death. It will all be for
nothing.
Sometimes the effort of trying to be anything
but what you are runs thin and you sink with
gravity, but as you shed your tears of consolation
they begin to float up to the inner workings of
your mind. It holds onto each solemn tear not
knowing how to let go. You’re not too far gone
yet. Then you remember, in this moment of
intimacy, the world watches you with an objective
sight that seems to follow you even when you’re
alone. You have to keep face.
So, you become foreign to your mind as you
repeat those words,
“You’re just like your father.”
Interview with the Author
What pieces inspired you to start writing poetry?
The authentic truths of Tommy Pico's Nature Poem and the thought-provoking and eloquent words of Shakespeare's Sonnets.
What theme do you find yourself constantly writing about in your works?
I find myself writing about addiction, grief, and family a lot in my works. I think this is because my poetry is just a reflection of how I cope and process turbulent times throughout my life and these are the three running themes.
What do you think are important elements in thought provoking poems?
I think the most important element of a thought-provoking poem concerns the ability to be intimate and honest with yourself. If you're closed off and holding back your truth, in whatever regard that may be, then you won't be able to connect to your poetry and by extension your readers.
What role do you think poetry has on our society today?
I think poetry, like most writing, plays the role of holding a mirror to society. It's the deepest and most true reflection of us as individuals and of our society as a whole.