My Papa's Waltz

This poem to me represents a father who has been drinking, and probably abusive to his wife, in the line suggest The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle ( 9-10 ). I think that father was abusing his wife, the son woke up, and the father started dancing with the son. The poem refers that the son does not know any better as the father then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt (15-16). Usually children in abusive homes do not know any better. Children think this is the norm, so regardless of the abusive, the son still loves his father. This is probably the only time the son gets attention from his father, and wants that attention to last even with his father being drunk.