Poem of the Week: Father's Day

Pa’s Soft Spot

By D. A. Ellsworth

“All folks hev some soft spot,”

      Ma uster say,

“Somethin’ or ’nother

      Comes out some day

Comes out ’fore they know it,

      Jest like ez not.”

’N’en us kids’d say, “Ma,

      What’s your sof’ spot?”

An’ we’d keep a plaguin’,

      Till ma’d say,

“I wish ’at you youngins

      ’D run away!

Ask your pa’ bout his’n

      An’, like ez not,

He’ll tell you willin’ly

      What’s his sof’ spot.”

’N’en we’d ’gree to ask him

      That very day;

When his train’d whistle

      Why right away,

We’d jest skedaddle

      Clean ’cross the lot,

To be first to ask pa

      What’s his sof’ spot.

Pa, he’d say, “My sof’ spot?

      Never hes none!”

Wouldn’t tell us neither,

      But jest make fun;

Then he’d tell his brakeman,

      He’d says “Great lot,

Think you’re goin’ to tell ’em

      What’s your sof’ spot!”

’N’en we’d all go home,

      An’ after ’while

Pa’d tell ma ’bout it,

      An’ ma she’d smile;

We’d ’gin agin a guessin’,

      Till pa’d say, “Trot!

Time you kids wuz dreamin’

      In some sof’ spot.”

An’ pa’d never tell us,

      When he wuz in;

Ev’ry trip he come home

      We’d ’gin agin;

Onct George sez when prayin’,

      He prayed a lot,

“Please God, wisht you’d tell us

      What’s pa’s sof’ spot!”

One day the opurat’r

      Sent word by Bert

There hed bin a washout,

      An’ pa wuz hurt;

Engineer wuz hurt, too,

      An’ both might die;

Pa wanted to see us

      To say good-by.

We wuz all so still

      When we went in;

They wuz holdin’ pa up,

      A fannin’ him;

An’ pa sez “I may die

      Jest like ez not,

Tell the children I sed

      They’s my sof’ spot!”

But our pa didn’t die,

      He jist got well;

We wuz all so happy,

      Couldn’t ’gin to tell!

’Cause we all loved our pa,

      A great big lot,

I guess God saw we wuz

      Pa’s sof’ spot!

HT: Poetry Foundation