In Lucille Clifton’s poem “forgiving my father”, the speaker depicts a broken and complex relationship between the daughter and her father. Again and again, the speaker alludes to the lack of regularity and positive family interactions the daughter endured. Typical, family serves as a close knit group of loved ones who appreciate and care for your well being. However, the daughter is left with a unstable and neglecting father. Clifton uses the simile, "all week you have stood in my dreams / like a ghost" (Clifton 3-4) to show the lack of a relationship the speaker has with her father.  It seems as though he is merely a disappointing thought that floats around in her dreams and is not present with her in real life. The ghost Clifton is referring to is the father as he haunts the minds of his family. The topic of money is referenced several times in different forms throughout the poem. Furthermore, the daughter talks about bills needing to be paid, wishing her father was rich, bad bargains, and collecting. With emotions on display throughout Clifton’s poem, the intentional repetition of money like terms accurately depict the relationship, or lack thereof, between the father and his daughter

At first, the daughter sides with her mother on her thoughts about their father. Both are experiencing similar hardships. Emotionally, there is an emptiness within them that is desperating searching to be filled. It appears they both have been investing in a false sense of hope their whole lives and are finally acknowledging it. However, towards the end of the poem the daughter acknowledges the mother’s fault in the situation saying “you were each other's bad bargain, not mine” (Clifton 19). Although the mother and daughter had their differences, both lack the support of the father of the house.

It is no secret the father could not provide for his family. We see the daughter express her concerns with money. Her emotions are summed through the words, “my mother's hand opens in her early grave and I hold it out like a good daughter” (Clifton 6-7) to illustrate the damage immense financial burden causes. Furthermore, the speaker again attacks the problem saying, “i wish you were rich so i could take it all and give the lady what she was due” (Clifton 10-11). Economically, the daughter finds herself empty handed and to say it plainly, disappointed. Her father never came through for the family even at the very end before he died. The father figure role is a significant enabler of the development of daughters. They seek love and protection, and when the father is absent, many times the daughter sees her self-worth being diminished.

Clifton uses time to enhance the daughter’s cry for change. Towards the beginning of the poem, the father asks for more time to be a provider. She quickly dismisses his question by sharpley saying, “there will never be time enough daddy daddy old lecher old liar” (Clifton 8-9). The father’s chance to be attentive, loving, and in control is over. Structurally, Clifton’s poem is condensed into sixteen lines. Moreover, the authors use of direct and choice diction carry the timeless theme. Time is money, and the father in this poem is lacking in both areas. 

Continuous frustration and concern with the instability of her father reflects the brokeness of the speaker’s relationship with her father.On going references to money remind readers of the struggles the speaker is dealing with. The duty of a parent, especially the father, is to be a provider and protector for your family. Not only did the father not provide economically for his family, but his physical absence hurt his daughter immensely. Ultimately, the daughter concludes the poem by questioning herself and actually forgiving her sorry father. She intends to leave the past behind and focus on the future. 
