Lucille Clifton’s “Forgiving my Father” is a poem about a girl with clear unresolved father issues. Emotions boil as she displays her disapproval for her father, almost as if she is too pissed off to even project her feelings. As a reader it can determined that a maternal figure has died prematurely. In addition, there is a clear indication that the mother was somehow treated poorly. The clearest message that is left is that there is some debt to be paid by the father and he is no longer there to pay it; in other words he offered nothing while there and left “bills” when gone. Lucille does a marvelous job in presenting this poem in a way that breeds a lot of controversy concerning its meaning.   

Within the poem there is an interesting concept t of bill paying. When it comes to bills they are due on a certain day, and no matter what excuses come about, time will expire and the “man” will come to collect. In respects to the father there is an indication of neglect which lends itself to the comparison of bill paying. Instantly the reader questions, what did the father do in order to deserve these snide comments? The literal interpretation to jump to would be, he literally left behind financial instability for his family. The more in depth analysis would be to read it as a metaphor and say that he neglected his responsibilities as a father and husband; in a sense he did not pay his dues to the world and left in some way without doing anything to make up for them.  The use of these tactics in a poem is what allows us to look into it in such depth, and question without one answer being correct. It would be easy for the poet to just come out and say what they mean very plainly. This however would cost the poem its intrigue as well as its controversy.    

In line 6 and 7 it is written, “My mother’s hand opens in her early grave and I hold it out like a good daughter.”  In these two lines the poet is bringing our attention to the lost mother who lies prematurely in her grave. There is no other reference to the status of this mother’s mortality so it is safe to assume that this woman is indeed dead. In addition, the second line mentioned gives us reason to believe that there is a deep devotion that this girl has to her mother. With this information the reader must determine whether that loyalty is the motivation of her disdain, or if something happened to her personally. The answer to this will be monumental in explaining the dynamic of the relationship between the girl and her parents. There is evidence to believe that her opinion of her father may indeed be skewed. In line 10 it is written, “I wish you were rich so I could take it all and give the lady what she was due”. In this example the woman is saying that she wishes she could take from her father in order to give to her mother. There is clear favoritism playing a role as well as some un-resolved issue that included the father taking something from the mother. This woman was brain washed to an extent by her mother. Now, this does not mean that the father does not deserve the treatment he is receiving. We do not know exactly what he did, but it is safe to assume that there is some reasoning behind it. This simply is a clue that is given to the reader in order to debate between that.  

The poem itself is somewhat contradictory. “Forgiving my Father”, at the end of the poem she does not actually forgive her father. Why would Lucile choose to give the poem this name if there was no forgiveness actually happening? It is possible that to the woman speaking decided that the conclusion she came to was indeed a kind of forgiveness. This however would show the extent of distain she had for her father. The last three lines of the poem “what am I doing here collecting? You lie side by side in debtor’s boxes and no accounting will open them up.” This sounds more like she is forgetting about it and deciding that there is nothing she can do; that it is their problem not hers. What was once undisputed passion has turned into an attitude of carelessness. On the other hand, it can be seen as a forced solution. The passion was so real and so severe that the only solution that can be drawn is that of false passiveness. The woman’s rage has not gone away, but has simply been turned into suppression. After all, a family was broken apart and little can be done to fix that. Throughout the poem the girl seems to be struggling with the idea of what has happened to her and her family, truly it is an insight into her trying to internally solve this dilemma so that she can be at peace. Perhaps the biggest take away from this is that the title of the poem is supposed to make us understand the difficulty and complexity of internal dilemmas.  

Lucille has definitely given the readers a lot to think about, and in the end we will never know the answer as to why she did what she did. Why did she choose to use money as a reoccurring theme? Perhaps money is the most relatable way for us to understand what sort of predicament the father has left them in. What is the real story behind her relationship with her parents? The readers will never know, but it is interesting to read into the clues that were left and come up with our own conclusions. Most interestingly, why is a poem about forgiveness left unresolved? There is the idea of the conclusion actually being a form of forgiveness; simply suppressing the raw emotion that cannot be resolved. On the other hand, the poet might be trying to show us the complexity of internal issues, and how there is no way to know what is or isn’t a solution. There also may be no right solution for this situation; everyone must deal with it in their own way. Lucille has given the readers much to think about, but there is no way to really know. The unclearness of this is what makes this poem ideal. The reader if forced to think and figure out, but in then end everyone will come up with a different solution; just as there is no correct solution for the narrator.      
