The Old Man Drew the Line

By Carl Rakosi 1903–2004 Carl Rakosi

The old man

drew the line

for his son,

the executive:

“I don’t want you spending money on me!

(not as long as there are fathers)”,

the line ageless

as the independence of time.

Musters tears

and overflows

the inner ear,

yet does not matter.

It can not cure frailty.

I seek him

who will seek me out

and will believe

what I do not believe

(that is my frailty).

“Sit down here with us,”

he says,

“You don’t have to impress anyone.

Here is my hand.

Your age is of no significance.”

Ah!

I move closer to his mouth

and look into his eyes.

I do not avert mine,

there is no reason to,

or retreat

into a kindly smile.

Ah, companero,

you were born

on the wrong day

when God was paradoxical.

You’ll have to

find yourself an old dog.

Carl Rakosi, “The Old Man Drew the Line” from The Collected Poems of Carl Rakosi (Orono: The National Poetry Foundation, 1986). Used with the permission of Marilyn J. Kane.

Source: The Collected Poems of Carl Rakosi (National Poetry Foundation, 1986)

Biography

The son of German Jewish parents, Carl Rakosi was born in Berlin in 1903, moving soon to Hungary following his parents’ separation in 1904. Immigrating with his father and stepmother to Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1910, he eventually graduated from the University of Wisconsin (where he edited the literary magazine) and later earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania. Rakosi’s involvement in the . . .

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