Watch this guy misspell 'father' at a spelling bee for a beautiful reason.

[Serendipity 7,821]

 

In what started as a pleasant dream, this poet vanquished words like “duodenum" with ease.

At 30 seconds, however, a six-letter word really gets him going.

 

 

 

Powerful, right?

If you don't have time for the video, but still want to hear Marshal Davis Jones' stunning words, he also provided a text version of the poem:

last night
I had the most interesting dream.
in it
I was six years old
in a national spelling bee.
genius
complex words….
duodenum….
serendipity.....
floccinaucinihilipilification.
up until the final round
one word between me and victory
the spell master clears his throat
young man your word is father
the crowd began to chatter amongst themselves
seemingly displeased
at the simplicity of this final word
I searched for those eyes
those eyes that say
"every things going to be ok. just do it"
I dazed off
young man!
your word is father
I stood up straight, licked my lips and began
father, m-o-t-h-e-r, father…
the spell master looks at me,
down at his flash card,
back up at me
"sorry but you are incorrect"
I don't understand
my fathers sitting right in the audience
"excuse me?'
"I am sorry son but you are incorrect"
well then
you can save your sorry apologies
because you must mean "in-correct"
as in within the parameters of being right.
let me explain something to you
cuz obviously you aint grow up
where poppas are rolling stones
down the hills of women's backsides
and when he's gone
all he's left us
was alone
where minstrel men stroll around on bikes
while fathers balanced their menstrual,
2 jobs,
2 kids
and a life
on a unicycle
and it looks something like this:
breastfeeding on one arm
phone on the shoulder
cooking with the other arm
cleaning with one leg
tying sneakers with their teeth
young fathers
who make mistakes
because we are not all perfect
but the one mistake they never make
is abandoning their seeds
you see fathers
are master gardeners
they tend to every leaf
removing the weeds
placing us in the windows of opportunity
so that we can lean towards the sun
and never forget that the sky is the limit
planting kisses on our cheeks
hugs on our backs
growing their love on us
the best way they know how
like my father
my father, sacrificed owning nothing,
that I may have everything
my father, walked a daily nightmare
so that I may live out my dreams
my father watered me
with blood sweat and tears
so that I may be ripe
for the harvest
and I hope that one day
I can grow up to be as great a father
as she was for me
you did not ask me spell deadbeat sir...
but if you want dead beat here it is:
f-a-t-h-e-r, d-a-d, d-a-d-d-y, p-o-p
p-o-p-s, if you want the slang
you asked me to spell father
and father is,
always has been
and always will be spelled
m-o-t-h-e-r
so get your encyclopedias,
show me your flash cards
open your dictionary
cuz what webster says
means nothing around here
around here,
my father is sitting right there...
and I love her.

[gagzus 24,190]

is he saying he's been raised by his mother all his life, because i thought this was gonna say his father was transgender

[Jester 6,388]

*waiting for gender equality activists to lose their **** *

[KyliesChild 16,907]

Immculate. Strong words by this man. Especially how a lot of men leave their children and their mothers are the one nurturing them nowadays and how men do not show (or at least some) men do not appreciate the significance a mother is. Many fathers, (not to be rascist but mostly black fathers) leave their children alone. This shows how a mother can mean so much more than your mother, but your father, uncle, aunt, even your mentor, your everything. Fathers who abandon their children are sick.

[Serendipity 7,821]

Immaculate. Strong words by this man. Especially how a lot of men leave their children and their mothers are the one nurturing them nowadays and how men do not show (or at least some) men do not appreciate the significance a mother is. Many fathers, (not to be racist but mostly black fathers) leave their children alone. This shows how a mother can mean so much more than your mother, but your father, uncle, aunt, even your mentor, your everything. Fathers who abandon their children are sick.

​this

if you can't be there for your children better not birth them

[RainingOnMe 7,280]

*waiting for gender equality activists to lose their **** *

​tumblr's coming  

[doveve 526]

Ok, he only had his mother to raise him, but there is a word 'father' in English language so please spell it and then express your opinion about fathers who do not raise their kids. This is a bit stupid imo. 

[Haroon 49,685]

Sorry I'm really confused  He was asked to spell "father" but decided not to because what he's experienced in his life?  I don't really see what relevance his experience in the past has to the spelling bee, but if he's happier taking the opportunity to give thanks to his mother than win the competition then okay  

[Computer 10,980]

There is no spelling bee, right?  It's just him telling his dream?  It's interesting though, thanks for sharing.

[Slayer 9,227]

 

That's a beautiful poem. So well-written and so true. My dad's first wife left him with two daughters to raise, and he had to give up his own dreams to give them security and a decent childhood. He was a mother and a father to them. The dictionary definitions of what a parent actually is, just don't cut it. 

[Serendipity 7,821]

 

That's a beautiful poem. So well-written and so true. My dad's first wife left him with two daughters to raise, and he had to give up his own dreams to give them security and a decent childhood. He was a mother and a father to them. The dictionary definitions of what a parent actually is, just don't cut it. 

​so sad

[Bebe 17,289]

I don't particularly like this video, I get it, but it doesn't feel authentic for me. 
He was raised by his M-O-T-H-E-R. I get that in many ways she played both roles, she was the parent but she wasn't the father. The person sitting in the audience was his mother. 

I just think there are better ways to get across that he doesn't have a father, that the definition of a parent is beyond what many dictionaries describe. Imo there are better ways to highlight the respect his mother deserves for raising him single-handed and balancing her life for him.

It just rubs me the wrong way. I just have this visceral reaction against it, it's like throwing the word father around to describe her is disrespectful. The title of "Mother" seems to be fitting already, it already encomposses everything in itself. The idea that "Father" has to be thrown in there is to embolden the idea that a father is needed. For me a mother was enough. For others two mother's work perfectly.