"Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead" by Andrew Hudgins

By definition, an elegy is a lament for the dead. I found it rather interesting how the speaker in this poem placed a strange twist on the meaning of elegy, and instead of writing an elegy for someone who was dead he wrote it for someone who was still alive. Throughout this poem, there seems to be two concepts being elaborated on. Although death will be one distance eventually separating the son from his father, meanwhile there are vast distances between them in life. While the father is ready to die and maintains a "sureness of faith", the son says bluntly that he is not ready. He even says that he "can't just say good-bye as cheerfully as if he were embarking on a trip." The tone of this poem voiced the speaker's doubt and showed that his elegy mourned both what is and what is not to be. He already fears his father's death and to some extent his own. I think this is true for many individuals who are still young. There are few who are ready to accept death while they still have much life to live, and it seems like many who are older are more at peace with the idea of dying. The speaker will probably grow to share his father's viewpoint later on in life.