My Father's Song

With the poem “My Father’s Song,” Ortiz explores a particular memory from his childhood that he has of his father, remembered later in his adult life when he wishes he could speak with him. The poem is written in five short stanzas with simple, repetitive language that sets a quiet and gentle tone for the reader. Ortiz uses this tone to explore an ordinary but powerful moment between him and his father, which seems to come and go quickly, the way childhood memories suddenly emerge and fade away for adults. The intimate moment between father and son expresses a lot about the nature of their relationship, the legacy of the father’s lessons to the son, and the effects of grief long after a loved one has passed. Ortiz’s “My Father’s Song” could be considered an elegy, lamenting the loss of a father, and an emotional remembering of his better qualities.

The poem begins with grief, as the author misses his father and finds himself muted, unable to “say things” (Line 1) to him. It is implicit to the poem that his father is dead, perhaps for many years, but Ortiz remembers him vividly in this first stanza. Recalling a specific moment where his father is telling him something meaningful, Ortiz recalls the “slight catch” (Line 3) of his father’s voice, the “depth from his thin chest” (Line 4), and the “tremble of emotion” (Line 5) after something his father has just said to him. The memory expressed in Stanza 1 serves as an introduction for the brief story that follows, but also likely concludes it—the memory of his father’s voice segues into the memory where he shares something meaningful with his son. Ortiz finishes the stanza by framing the memory as an important exchange between father and son, distancing himself from the moment by writing “in something he has just said / to his son, his song:” (Lines 6-7). That song is what follows in the remaining stanzas; it is the love that the father passes along to his son through acts of mercy and kindness.

In Stanza 2, Ortiz tells the story of one of those acts of mercy, which he experiences as a child. In this memory, Ortiz and his father are doing something they have done “several times” (Line 9)—planting corn at Acu in the spring. However, this particular time he remembers “the soft damp sand” (Line 11) in his hand, and this image will repeat throughout the poem. It is that soft sand that anchors the moment in his mind; perhaps the fields of Acu are not usually so soft and fertile. The softness and dampness of the sand also sets the tone for the moment—it is not harsh and dry, but yielding, fertile, and pliable.

Ortiz’s father reenters the poem in Stanza 3, stopping to show Ortiz an overturned mouse nest in the sand. It is notable that the father halts their work for this moment, which ends up being such an impactful lesson for the boy. What he shows the young Ortiz in Stanza 2 seems unexceptional: A common mouse’s nest exposed during farming. Most farmers might not notice or care about such small and seemingly insignificant creatures, but Ortiz’s father stops their work to show his son the nest. The image of the “soft moist sand” (Line 17) returns in this stanza, carrying over the same soft tone from the previous stanza.

In the fourth stanza, the father shows young Ortiz how to be compassionate to even the smallest of creatures, as he “scooped tiny pink animals / into the palm of his hand” (Lines 18-19) and tells his son to touch them. Ortiz uses words like “gently” (Line 18), “tiny” (Line 18), and “pink” (Line 18) to communicate how fragile the animals are, and how much care his father shows in the moment. Part of this lesson to his son is to invite him to touch them as well, so he may fully understand their aliveness and fragility. Together, they take the baby mice out of harm’s way, to the edge of the field, laying them in the cool shelter of “a sand moist clod” (Line 23).

In the final stanza, the moment is gone but the memories of vivid sensations remain: “softness / of cool and warm sand” (Lines 24-25), “tiny alive mice” (Line 25), and the voice of his father “saying things” (Line 26). These childhood memories stick with him, as Ortiz takes us away from the visual moment to linger in the tactile and aural sensations of that moment. We, the reader, are meant to feel that sand, the wiggling of the little mice, the timber of his father’s voice, but ironically, we do not know what his father is telling him. Ortiz does not share that with the reader, or perhaps he simply does not remember the words his father said to him in that moment. Instead, his father’s gentle and compassionate actions are the lesson of the moment—paired with the deeply spoken words of Stanza 1, it is the song Ortiz speaks of on Line 7.

There is much to be observed in this tender moment between a Native American father and son. Ortiz was raised in an Acoma village as a member of the Acoma Pueblo tribe, and this poem presents an alternative model for parenting boys that is not rooted in a Western approach, nor one that reinforces ideas of masculinity that focus on strength, domination, or competition. Instead, Ortiz’s father’s “song” is one of gentleness, compassion, and mercy. His father found it important enough to stop his work to show his son a mouse nest, which is a fairly common sight in a field. The father then takes the opportunity to teach his child about the adverse effects of farming on the surrounding wildlife, and he prioritizes that education. He likewise instructs with words and actions, inviting his son to participate in relocating the animals. The moment teaches the boy a respect for the natural world, for conservation and mercy, and instructs him on how to properly rectify any destruction they may cause.

Finally, in returning to the first line of the poem, we see that Ortiz wants to “say things” (Line 1) to his father again, just as his father is “saying things” (Line 26) to him in the final line of the poem. This desire for conversation, after loss, bookends the poem. Perhaps the exact things they say are not important, but rather the ability to simply speak again, son to father, “from the depth” of one’s chest, is at the heart of this exchange. The poem expresses the speaker’s desire for that deep connection of speaking truths to one another with trebling voices, and of nurturing even the most vulnerable creatures, whether baby mice, old men, or young children.