Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year by Raymond Carver

     Most of the time I find it very hard to reads poems and gain their full understanding. It's very difficult for me to pick up on the feelings of the author in most cases. However, after reading Raymond Carver's "Photograph of My Father in his Twenty-Second Year" I will give it a shot and tell you what the poem is saying in my train of thought.
     To me its seems that the author has found a picture of his father when he was twenty two years old.  As the author states "Here in this dank, unfamiliar kitchen", it sounds as though his father has passed away and he has gone to the place were his father lived to look around. From the overall tone of the poem and some of the things the author says I don't think the author and his father had a really healthy relationship at all. As the author studies the photograph of his father he says that "He would like to pose bluff and hearty for his posterity". He also says that all of his life his father wanted to be bold, but his eyes along with his limp hands, and bottle of beer would always give him away. From reading this it seems that his father wanted to be known as a tough man as it said he like to pose bluff and hearty for his posterity (descendants of one person). I get the feeling that his father was often proved wrong of his toughness and that is why he was an alcoholic.
      The last three lines of the poem starting with "Father, I love you" tell me that the author loved his father but never got the chance to hell him or his father simply never showed any love toward him. When he says that he can't hold his liquor either or doesn't even know the right places to fish, it seems to me that he feels as though he has let his father down. Simply because he can not drink like his father could or knew how to fish like his father did.
       I think the author has lots of regrets about his father, and feels that he let him down in some ways. I don't think the two spent very much time together while he was growing up which is sad. So in summary to me this poem was about his father dying and the son going to the place were his father lived. Here he found a picture of his father which brought back memories. I think the author feels as though he has let his father down and in some ways wished he was more like his father. For most boys growing up all they pretty much want to do is make there father proud, and i believe the authors thinks he didn't do that.