The Job of Dying

"By then, he knew he was dying,
he seemed to approach it as a job to be done
which he knew how to do."

What does a daughter see as she watches her father die? Does she see the death of a hero in terminus?  Or does the superhuman qualities of her father never fade?

In her poetry anthology The Father, Sharon Olds chronicles her observations of her father's death from cancer. An outsider looking in, she portrays her father with worship of how he carries himself during his last days. She tells of his stoicism, his dominance, his strength - qualities that do not leave him even as he approaches his end.

Through her work, masculinity is portrayed never to fade. Indeed, when a man keeps his masculinity even in the face of death, Olds explains that he gains additional respect and reverence by keeping his image even as evening falls.