I Have No Time For You

How sharper than a serpent's tooth to have a thankless child

I Have No Time for You

 

By Elton Camp

 

Old Dad wants memories to share

Yet, his child hasn’t the least care

 

Though he’s elderly, he still tries

But his words she does despise

 

“No, I don’t have time for you

More important things I must do.

 

To interrupt me don’t you dare

Your tired tales I just can’t bear.”

 

“Really, it doesn’t interest me

I am too busy, can’t you see?

 

You tell about times long ago.

To that I’m indifferent, though.”

 

If he persists in trying to talk,

Out of the room, she’ll stalk.

 

“Your ideas are so out-of-date

To hear them, I utterly hate.”

 

Old Dad is very deeply hurt

At her actions & words so curt

 

Another time he’ll again try

Now, he sits alone with a sigh

 

After some years, the time came

Dad no longer knew her name

 

So no more did he try to share

Only confusion remained there

 

He would bother her no more

With words she did so abhor

 

Reviews

[Carol Cashes]

Dang, dude. I shouldn't have read this sad tale so early in the day.
Not a poet myself, more of a story teller, so I'm not really a credible critic with one exception: I know what I like, and this was a good read...a sad and cautionary tale.
So far, I've read two sad things this morning at the Cafe right off - I'm gonna have to find some nonsense to read for a bit to shake this off.

Nicely penned.

[Samuel Dickens]

Sad and very true--at least in my experience, it is. Dad used to irritate me with his old tales that he told over and over. Pointing to a grassy field, he said, "There's where your great-grandfather had his tannery. He made..."
"Boots and saddles. Yeah, Dad, I know."
Now I'm the old dad and my 26 year-old is the young me, uninterested in my dumb talk. It's karma, I'm pretty sure. The thing that you and I can both be fairly sure about is that our old words will eventually become treasure in their memories.

[Elton Camp]

I hope so, but no indication of it yet from my daughter. I started writing mainly for her, but little or no interest. It did evolve into writing of magazine and newspaper articles and I've had considerable success in getting things published, including multiple magazine cover articles. My prose is better than my poetry. Thanks for your comment. Elton