FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT PANTOUM
Frank Lloyd Wright was a terrible father,
But I like his houses and windows.
His horizontal lines, I want to be those dark beams.
I like his late prairie style, the Emil Bach house up the street from where I live.
I like his houses and windows,
But he abandoned his family in 1909 and left for Europe with his mistress.
I like his late prairie style, the Emil Bach house up the street from where I live.
My father has never seen this house, up the street from where I live.
He abandoned his family in 1909 and left for Europe with his mistress.
How do I still love the houses and windows the terrible father built?
My father has never seen this house, up the street from where I live.
Even after the caretaker plants yellow mums in the fall.
How do we still love the houses and windows the terrible father built?
His horizontal lines, I want to be those dark beams.
Even after the caretaker plants yellow mums in the fall,
Frank Lloyd Wright was a terrible father.
—from Poets Respond
June 19, 2022
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Morgan Eklund: “The good, the bad, and the ugly—Father’s Day is a moment of celebration or reflection. What does this myth, this statue, this cultural icon mean to me? To better understand my own father, I’ve spent the last few years on a collection of poems about fathers, including this one about Frank Lloyd Wright, whose 155th birthday was last week. The more I look, the more I am sure—I’ll never understand the enigma we call dad.” (web)
