My Pappa’s Waltz
a poem by Theodore Roethke
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.
Latest posts by Spillwords (see all)
- A Chilly Night - January 4, 2026
- Clown in The Moon - December 28, 2025
- Bonny Dundee - December 7, 2025



