"My Son My Executioner"

I have to say, I didn't particularly like this poem. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful poem and all, it's just so sad. The basic message in this poem is you don't live forever, as if we didn't already know that. But come on now, I don't need another reminder. But at the same time, it's probably what every parent goes through when they have their first child. All through your adolescence and the beginning of being an adult you pretty much think you're invincible, and I can't speak for everyone but I'm really not a careful person because I'm just not afraid. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be, but I'm really not. And I'll probably feel that way until something happens that tells me otherwise.
When a father looks at a newborn baby, what does he really think? In this poem it's saying that he thinks about how he finally realizes he's aging faster than he thoought, he's "start[ing] to die". While the baby is "just astir", indicating it's his beginning, the father feels his youth fade away. It's a symbol of life and death in a sense, because even though the parents will die they'll still live on in their son. I guess that's why the author calls the child an "instrument of immortality".
Also, I don't really like the title of the poem. Not like it's irrelevant to the piece or anything, but it's just sort of brutal. An executioner is the big guy in the black mask who straps you into the guillotine and chops your head off, not your newborn son. I guess the little guy is an executioner in a sense because he makes the father realize he's aging and dying, but again it's still pretty brutal. It sure paints a picture, that's for sure.

When I was driving out to Cape Breton with my best friend and her parents a few years ago, they continuously played the contry music station and it absolutely drove me nuts. I know more country songs because of that road trip than I'd have ever liked to hear in my lifetime, but I couldn't help it because it basically sank into my head while I was sleeping. Anyway, this poem reminded me of a song that was drilled into my head back then by Toby Keith. It talks about a guy who's getting older and he realizes he's not in his prime anymore, and he's not as good as he once was. This song was a little less annoying than the rest of them, maybe that's why I remember it so well. But yeah, that's what this poem reminded me of. The poem is a bummer, but the song is a nice laugh.

"I ain't as good as I once was
My how the years have flown
But there was a time back in my prime
When I could really hold my own"