"The Gift"
I love this poem :) i think this is what life is all about: learning little "gifts" as a child that will stick with you forever and benefit you again in your future. this boy learned from his father how to carefully remove a splinter while distracting the patient just enough so they wouldn't fell any pain. later on in life, when he was married and his wife got a splinter, he remember this "gift" he had learned when he was a child and he pulled it back out again. the antecedent scenario for this poem definitely could have been simply that his wife got a splinter, and it reminded him of his childhood. in the last stanza, Lee refers to a "Little Assassin." at first i was not sure what he was talking about, not now believe the little assassin is his father, carefully trying to "take out" the splinter, as stealthily as possible. he then has some words in italics: "Metal that will bury me." and "Death visited here!" this use of italics gives emphasis to the boys thoughts and the fact that they were not scared or dramatic. the father had successfully soothed his son's fears of the splinter, and now the son remembered his father's gentle touch. the last line state that the boy "did what a child does when he's given something to keep." he kissed his father. and i bet his wife kissed him :)
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