 Robert Hayden’s Those Winter Sundays and Lucille Clifton’s forgiving my father are both poems written from a first person perspective reflecting on the narrator's relationship with their fathers. Both of these poems were influenced by the two authors past experiences. Robert Hayden and Lucille Clifton are African American, and grew up in a time when they had little respect given to them.  Robert Hayden had a very tough childhood. He was born into a very poor family, and at a young age was left by his parents to be raised in foster care. Lucille Clifton grew up in Buffalo, New York. Most of Clifton's work emphasizes overcoming adversity through endurance and strength. Those Winter Sundays and forgiving my father are representative of what influences the authors to write in their own styles. In both poems the narrator has a distant relationship with their father, but learn to grant forgiveness and thanks. Those Winter Sundays tells the story of a young boy and his regrets about not giving thanks for his father’s work. Forgiving my father is about a girl who’s parents have passed away, and she is still stuck with the memories of her father not providing her family with enough love or money. Through comparing these two poems, the audience can see how even through a distant relationship, it is possible to be thankful and to grant forgiveness. 

 In the poem Those Winter Sundays, the narrator notices his father’s morning routine of driving out the cold while he stays in bed. He realizes that he never shows appreciation for his father’s work, and even though it is seemingly a small task that he completes every morning as a part of his daily routine, he never gets a rest even on Sundays. The narrator's father would drive out the cold “with cracked hands that ached from the labor in the weekday weather.” (Hayden 3-4). Noticing how little appreciation his father receives makes the narrator realize the distance of their relationship. The weakness of the relationship is clearly shown when once out of bed, he would speak indifferently to his father, wondering “what did [he] know of love’s austere and lonely offices.” (13-14). By not being grateful for his father’s work, the narrator questions the love shown towards his father within his family. Even though he does not have a close relationship with his father, the narrator realizes his appreciation for his father and his work on his daily routine. 

Lucille Clifton’s poem forgiving my father focuses on a girl who’s parents have passed away, and left her with only their memories. The narrator’s father “all week stood in her dreams like a ghost, asking for more time,” (Clifton 3-4). Her father was never able to provide her family with the love or money that they needed. The entirety of the poem is written in lowercase letters. This carries significance because it gives the poem a monotone, defeated sounding tone. Usually capital letters are used to show emotion. If a word is written in all capital letters, the word is being emphasized by the author. By making every letter lowercase, the author is not putting any extra importance in any single word. Towards the end of the poem, the narrator starts to realize that her father was “the only son of a needy father, the father of a needy son.” (12-13). As the poem continues, the narrator comes to the understanding that maybe her father's attitude was affected by something, she started to grant him forgiveness. Even though she thought of her father as an “old pauper old prisoner, old dead man.” (20). She granted him some forgiveness by realizing that perhaps it was not all her father’s fault. The narrator’s father gave her mother “all you had which was nothing. You have already given her all you had. (14-15). By granting her father forgiveness, the narrator is able to let go of the bad memories that she carries. 

Those Winter Sundays, and forgiving my father carry similarities in their messages. In both poems, the narrator finds a way to give appreciation and forgiveness to their fathers despite their weak relationships. Both poems were written in similar time periods, 1962, and 1987. The two poems share a similar message of looking for strengths in a relationship rather than negatives so a weak relationship can be repaired. Although there are similarities in the poems, they can be juxtaposed into opposites as well. Those Winter Sundays is about a boy realizing he should show thanks towards his father, while forgiving my father is about a girl seeking forgiveness in her father. These two poems relate to each other through the common theme of forgiveness. The little boy feels as though he needs to apologize to his father in order to gain his forgiveness for his lack of appreciation. Although the children in both the poems have a weak relationship with their fathers, they look past their family issues. The narrators of both poems have distant relationships with their fathers, but learn to give forgiveness and thanks. 
