Tbe Absence of Fathers

Our new "Writing Novena" is based on a sentence from a book, magazine, or newspaper.


1/9
All through "Little Red Riding Cap" no father is mentioned, which is most unusual for a fairy tale of this kind.
-Bruno Bettelheim The Uses of Enchantment

Ah, the absence of fathers.
That missing angle
in the geometry of families.
That hole which should be filled with
aftershave, leather boots, Sunday grill outs,
little league, car repair, and the occasional beer.
That ghost who should be at the game, the dance,
the birth and the wedding.
The phantom who should be there to scare your boyfriends,
to tell you about women, to bail you out.
The absence that makes your mom work two jobs,
and ages her twice as fast as is just.
The absence of fathers is our reality.
Not our fairy tale.