Sharon Olds’ poem “Late Poem to My Father” exposes the profound effect that childhood trauma can have on someone, even in adulthood. The speaker of the poem invokes sadness and pity in the reader by reflecting on the traumatic childhood of her father, and establishes a cause and effect relationship between the abuse he endured as a child and the dependence he develops on alcohol as an adult. The idea of emotional retardation caused by …showed first 75 words of 1010 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1010 total…like to think I am giving my love directly to that boy in the fiery room, as if it could reach him in time.”. This indicates to us that the speaker does, indeed, love her father and forgives him for the pain he caused her. She understands his mistakes, and will not likely repeat them. This forgiveness is her means of coming to terms with her pain, something her father was never able to accomplish.