Question:

What does this poem mean exactly ?

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what is it about ? whats the author trying to say exactly ?

& who is the author addressing when he says "you" ?

i totally dont understand it. & its driving me crazy!

The Gift

Li-Young Lee

To pull the metal splinter from my palm

my father recited a story in a low voice.

I watched his lovely face and not the blade.

Before the story ended, he'd removed

the iron silver I thought I'd die from.

I can't remember the tale,

but hear his voice, still a well

of dark water, a prayer.

And I recall his hands,

two measures of tenderness

he laid against my face,

the flames of discipline

he raised above my head.

Had you entered that afternoon

you would have thought you saw a man

planting something in a boy's palm,

a silver tear, a tiny flame.

Had you followed that boy

you would arrive here

where I bend over my wife's right hand.

Look how I shave her thumbnail down

so carefully she feels no pain.

Watch as I lift the splinter out.

I was seven when my father

took my hand like this,

and I did not hold that shard

between my fingers and think,

Metal that will bury me,

christen it Little Assassin,

Ore Going Deep for My Heart.

And I did not lift up my wound and cry,

Death visited here!

I did what a child does

when he's given something to keep.

I kissed my father.

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2 ANSWERS


  1. I think this author means the reader when he says "you".  That's all I can help you with.  If I did in any way!  Sorry!


  2. you= a bystander

    someone looking in

    or the reader

    this is a hard one!

    immediately when he said metal splinter

    i thought of a knife but then he lost me

    when he mentioned his wife.

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