“Never Again”

hearing that phrase reminds
me of watching Jazz
the film by Ken Burns
where Dave Brubeck recounts
the time when he was a boy
growing up in Salinas

and his father called over
an elderly black man
he employed on the farm
and asked him to remove
his shirt so his son
could see the whip
scars on his back

and his father said
this must never happen again

it was that message
shown by a loving father
to his son who shared
with tears in his eyes
that lesson for us to hear
that moved me most of all

tears in my eyes too
and it wasn’t about the music

* * * * *

This poem was written in response to the prompt at Poetic Asides to write a never again poem.

I am reposting it here. I originally posted it on my other blog on Friday, April 15, 2011.