Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FATHER'S VALENTINE, by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FATHER'S VALENTINE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Father's got the queerest valentine!
Last Line: "that was mother, thirty years ago!"
Subject(s): Children; Hearts; Holidays; Love; Mothers; Parents; Valentine's Day; Childhood; Parenthood


FATHER'S got the queerest Valentine!
It's the picture of a little girl
With her hair cut straight across her face,
Plastered down without a wave or curl.

If you'd see her stockings you would laugh,
For they're made with rings like barber's poles,
And she wears the oddest little frock,
With no neck or sleeves but only holes.

And I said, "Who is this little girl?
I won't have her for my Valentine."
Father laughed and said, "That's just as well—
Long ago she promised to be mine.

"Once I sent that child a sugar heart,
Saying, 'If you love me tell me so,'
And she ate it all—why, little son,
That was mother, thirty years ago!"





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net