Instead of a Card: Ten Poems about Fathers

“A greeting that not only gives great pleasure but illuminates our lives—like a message in a bottle.”–Robert McCrum, writer and editor

“Ten Poems about Fathers” is a title in the “Instead of a Card” series, based on the idea that sending a greeting card is a lovely gesture, and sending a booklet of poetry an even more meaningful one.

Dads, fathers, papas, daddies: the poems in this updated edition of our best-selling mini-anthology explore fatherhood from a host of angles. We encounter a father who likes running up hills, a father who plays the accordion and – poignantly – a father who needs to be taught how to hug.

The poems celebrate the fact that fathers can be both protectors and purveyors of imaginative childhood adventures:

“My father was a bear.
He carried me through forest, sky
and over frozen sea. At night
I lay along his back
wrapped in fur and heat
and while I slept, he ran…”

–Shazea Quraishiou, ‘You May Have Heard of Me’ 

There are also poems of tender remembrance. Everyday happenings become special with hindsight, acting as a reminder that a father’s love is something we can carry with us forever.

Selected by Di Slaney

Poems by Melba Joyce Boyd, Lewis Buxton, WD Ehrhart, Wilfrid Gibson, Edgar Albert Guest, Tyehimba Jess, Joanne Limburg, Roy McFarlane, Shazea Quraishi and Siriol Troup

Cover illustration by Sara Boccaccini Meadows