My Son My Executioner

   When i frist read the title of the poem i have to say i found it to be rather disturbing. I Found it odd that a father would refer to his own newborn child as an executioner. An executioner being "one who kills" is not something you would expect a parent to refer to their child as. After reading the title i expectecd the peom to be disturbing and dark.

   However after reading the poem and gaining a better understanding of what it was about i came to lean that the peom was not distrubing nor dark. The poem was sad. The father was refering to his son as an excutioner because his son reminded him of his own mortality. At the birth of his son he comes to realize that he is growing older and eventually he must die. This new life will live on long after he has died and the circle of life must go on to repeat it's self. The father says he is "starting to die" he is refering to the fact that he is aging .
 
   The two main themes of this poem are aging and death along with life and death. This poem reminds us all that we cannot live forever and one day we must die and a new generation will live on in our place. I think it teaches us that we should appreciate every day and make good use of the time we are given on this planet.

   In conclusion i think most people might have had the same reaction when first reading the title of this poem. From reading this i've learned to fully examine what i am reading before passing an opinion without knowing what it is truely about .