My Papa's Waltz

The whiskey on your breath
could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
such waltzing was not easy.


We romped until the pans
slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
could not unfrown itself.


The hand that held my wrist
was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
my right ear scraped a buckle.


You beat time on my head
with a palm caked hard by dirt,
then waltzed me off to bed
still clinging to your shirt. 

In class, we had a huge discussion about this poem. There was a side that thought the father was abusing the child, there was a side that thought the father was just dancing with his son, and then there was a "jury side". I was on the jury side. My group had an argument on weather or not the father was abusive or not, drunk or not. But it all depends on each person's perspective.

    It all started with the first line. We all said that whiskey is strong. But then some said that the father was drunk because it's enough to make a small boy dizzy. Others argued that because the boy is small, even a small amount of alcohol can make him dizzy. Also, some people thought "But I hung on like death" was a scary line. They thought it meant like holding on because the boy was afraid. We also looked up romped. Which means lively play. I thought that because its a lively PLAY, it meant they were playing. And the kitchen could be small which is why the pans were falling of the shelves.
    At first, when I read "battered on one knuckle", I thought it was because the father was repeatedly hitting his son. But it could also be that the father had come home from work and he had injured his hand. "At every step you missed my right ear scraped a buckle" also made it seem as if the father was beating the son with his belt if he missed a move. But people argued that a waltz is danced with 2 people. And the father and the son are dancing. And in the beginning, it says "a small boy". The boy may only come up to his father's waist height wise. Also in the beginning, it says "The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy". The father could be a little tipsy and miss a few steps and scrape his son's ear by accident.
    So I think that the father and son were ACTUALLY dancing. There isn't enough evidence showing that the father is drunk enough to show that the father is drunk.