Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Charles Harper Webb’s "Prayer for the Man Who Mugged My Father, 72" is a poem of righteous fury, violent fantasy, and dark humor, transforming personal grief and anger into a kind of mythic revenge. The poem operates on multiple levels—mourning a father’s suffering, channeling the son’s helpless rage, and ultimately turning the desire for retribution into a prayer-like incantation, as if seeking cosmic justice. The raw emotion of the speaker is evident in the escalating brutality of the imagined afterlife confrontation, where the father becomes an avenging force and the speaker awaits his turn to exact further punishment.

The poem opens with an invocation that establishes its grim wish: "May there be an afterlife. May you meet him there, the same age as you." This immediately frames the imagined encounter as a kind of divine reckoning, beyond the realm of earthly justice. The symmetry of age suggests fairness—the mugger will not have the advantage of youth over the elderly father he assaulted. The "small, locked room" becomes a stage for the poet’s desired retribution, where the mugger is trapped with his victim, forced to face consequences he escaped in life.

Webb employs a darkly ironic reversal of circumstances, ensuring that all the elements of the original crime return against the attacker: "May the bushes where you hid be there again, leaves tipped with razorblades and acid. May the rifle butt you bashed him with be in his hands." Every object used in the mugging—the hiding place, the weapon, even the shattered glass from the father’s car window—becomes an instrument of the mugger’s own suffering. This symmetry underscores the poem’s relentless thirst for justice, turning the mugger’s violence back onto himself.

The details of the father’s injuries—"the needles the doctors used to close his eye"—are reimagined as punishment for the assailant: "stab your pupils every time you hit the wall and then the floor, which will be often." The pain inflicted upon the father becomes the pain returned tenfold. The violence is both hyperbolic and personal, turning the father into a warrior figure whose past as a caring, skillful, and physically strong man only adds to the imagined retribution.

Webb then shifts to a deeply personal portrayal of the father, recalling how his hands "taught his son to throw a curve and drive a nail and hold a frog," and how his "arms, which powered handstands," become instruments of destruction. These recollections paint a picture of a man who was once strong, loving, and deeply involved in his son’s life—a strength that the speaker envisions now being used to punish his attacker. The contrast between the father as a nurturer and his transformation into an avenger heightens the emotional weight of the poem. The speaker is not just seeking justice; he is reclaiming his father’s dignity, his former power, and his rightful place as a protector.

Despite the brutal imagery, Webb injects a twisted sense of mercy: "And when you are down, and he’s done with you, which will be soon, since, even one-eyed, with brain damage, he’s a merciful man." This line carries a bitter irony—the father, even after being beaten, is still imagined as more honorable than his assailant. Yet, the final blow of the poem comes in the last two lines, when the mugger, believing he has survived the worst, is faced with a more terrifying prospect: "Then may the door open once more, and let me in."

This final moment is chilling, as it suggests the speaker?s rage is even greater than his father’s. While the father’s retribution is imagined as swift and decisive, the speaker’s vengeance lingers, promising something even more fearsome. The brevity of the closing line—"and let me in."—leaves the reader with a sense of unease, as it hints at an even more personal and unrelenting wrath.

"Prayer for the Man Who Mugged My Father, 72" is not merely a revenge fantasy; it is an exploration of grief, helplessness, and the desperate need for justice in a world where such justice is often denied. Webb transforms his personal anger into a powerful incantation, turning his father into a mythic warrior figure while exposing the son’s own darker impulses. The poem is at once cathartic and unsettling, a testament to the raw, unfiltered emotions that arise in the face of violence against a loved one.

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