“My Papa’s Waltz”

Question and poem below. Ask if you have any question or concerns. No less than 50 word or at least a paragraph

Does this speaker portray this memory of his father positively or negatively? How do you know?

Look for specific word choices/lines in the poem to help you support your answer.

My Papa’s Waltz

The whiskey on your breath

Could make a small boy dizzy;

But I hung on like death:

Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pans

Slid from the kitchen shelf;

My mother’s countenance

Could not unfrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist

Was battered on one knuckle;

At every step you missed

My right ear scraped a buckle.

You beat time on my head

With a palm caked hard by dirt,

Then waltzed me off to bed

Still clinging to your shirt.