My Father and the Mango Palwi Tree

A Poem by Anderson Reynolds in Celebration of Father’s Day

In the middle of my father’s farm,
alongside which flows the meandering,
quarrelsome, and impulsive Vieux Fort River,
which on rainy days denied us safe passage 
stood a mango palwi tree
its broad canopy provided shelter and sanctuary  
its extensive root system  
protected the land from loss and tears
its golden labor of love
provided nourishment and delight   
its stoutness, permanence, and forbearance
reassured all was well with the world  
the mango palwi tree brings warm memories of my family
before we had scattered to distant lands
when together we tilled the land and reaped its bounties
but most of all, it brings fond memories of my father
the way he loved, sheltered, and nurtured us
the way he was our anchor and compass
the way he carried us across the
Vieux Fort River when it was raging
the way he was just as rooted
and belonged just as much
to the land as the mango palwi tree

Dr. Anderson Reynolds’ father was killed in an auto accident in 2002. He was 78. His 2019 memoir, My Father Is No Longer There, was part of his attempt to come to terms with his father’s untimely death.