
Lucille Clifton’s poem “Forgiving My Father” is a very real, very deep piece. Her poem is written in the point of view of a child who is caught in the middle of her parent’s problems. Throughout the poem, the daughter speaks about her father and how his financial problems affected her. This point of view is what makes it serious because usually, kids are innocent and unknowing, while kids know more than people would like to think. In the poem, the daughter seems to know a lot about her parents and their financial problems, which no child should know. She describes what things are like, specifically on payday. Clifton’s choice of words and devices give the poem a feeling of sadness and creates the mild intensity of the subjects she touches in the piece.

Clifton gives the narrator a very negative vocabulary. She uses several different adjectives throughout this piece about the father. The daughter describes her father using words that would not naturally come out of a child’s mouth which give an image of how she, and possibly the mother, see the father: an old, poor liar. She clearly is not fond of her father in this poem as she repeatedly speaks of him in a negative light. In line 9, she calls her father an “old lecher” which means that he was a very sexual man. Although it is not mentioned, it is somewhat implied that the father may have had sexual interactions with the daughter or her mother that were not kind, as she would have chosen different words. The daughter seems to despise her father because of how he made the family out to be. She also calls him an “old pauper”, “old prisoner”, “old dead man” (Clifton line 20) signifying the fact that she detached herself from her father. She doesn’t feel remorse for her father or his shortcomings, instead, she feels trapped into dealing with her parent’s problems even after their death. 

The daughter seems to be on the mother’s side, as its mentioned a couple of times that she sees herself as a collector of debt for her. In the first part of the poem, it is stated that “today is payday…my mother’s hand opens in her early grave/ and I hold it out like a good daughter.” (Clifton lines 5-7). In another instance, the daughter seems upset with the financial burden that her father placed on the family. She says that she wished her father was wealthier so she could “give the lady what she was due” (Clifton line 11), but later she also states that she knew that he had given all that he could possibly give because he initially had nothing to give. She knew that when it was time to pay bills her father could not pay them because her father was “…the pocket that was going to open/and come up empty any Friday.” (Clifton lines 17-18). She knew how her father was and how it affected their family.

Although she chose to side with her mother, the daughter slowly comes to the realization that it is not entirely her father’s fault. She takes some of the blame off her father by saying that he was “the only son of a needy father” (Clifton 12), indicating that he was the way he was because his own father. She realized that the family her father created was because of how his own family was when he was growing up. She cannot fully blame her father anymore because she knows that he could only do so much. Eventually, towards the end, she releases the obligation she felt she had towards her parents. “You were each other’s bad bargain, not mine.” (Clifton 19). She puts both her mother and father at fault with this line and separated herself from it in the process. In line 21, she questions herself, “What am I doing here collecting?” Now she knows that she has nothing to do with the problems her parents had. After having her father’s troubles haunt her, she’s finally letting go all the stress she may have had.

Clifton’s choice of words in this piece provoke readers to see different perspectives. There are two ways one can interpret this poem. On one hand, the daughter is forgiving her father for being financially irresponsible and putting the family in debt. By reading it again, one could say that she is forgiving her father for being a bad father to her as well as a bad husband to her mother. As mentioned before, she calls her father an “old lecher” (Clifton line 9) which furthers the assumption that her father was not a good man or father. She recalls the instances where he would always ask for more time, meaning that he was not very reliable when it came to being responsible. She says, “…you have stood in my dreams/like a ghost, asking for more time” (Clifton lines 3-4). After saying that, she then shuts him down by saying, “There is no more time for you. There will/ never be time enough daddy” (Clifton lines 8-9). She no longer feels sad for her father; she is tired of him trying. 

Clifton’s poem sheds light on many situations that families may have such as poverty and complicated family relationships. Her poem shoes how issues arising between a mother and father can greatly affect children. Much like the daughter in Clifton’s poem, many children are faced with the feeling of being a part of their parent’s problems when they should not be.  But also, Clifton discreetly involves abuse in the family. The daughter in the poem calls her father an “old lecher” (Clifton line 9) which describes a man who is very sexual in a negative way, something like a pervert. Clifton’s poems often reflect parts of her real life and this poem is no different. In other poems, such as “moonchild”, she reveals her “special” relationship with her father. In “Forgiving My Father” the daughter is slightly reminiscent of herself. Although it is not directly stated, these pieces can be connected to show how Clifton puts her life into her poems.

“Forgiving My Father” is a piece that speaks to people because it is realistic. Clifton uses adjectives throughout her poem to help bring up the message she wants the readers to see. Her poem is written through the eyes of a daughter who is entangled in her parent’s mess, but does not wish to be. She struggles with the burden of their problems, even when they are dead. She has despised her father for being incompetent and careless with money. She soon realizes that she must let go of her bitterness towards her father and forgive him.
