In a fashion both witty and wise, the parent advises the son, and by extension the reader, on the dangers and delights life holds in store. In only twenty-three lines, Meinke conveys a powerful sense of the multiple and often opposing aspects of life: the practical and the idealistic, the physical and the spiritual, the temporal and the long-term, the sensual and the intellectual, the secular and the religious, the aesthetic and the mundane. He does this both directly and indirectly, through contradictory statements as well as sudden and at first seemingly incongruous shifts in imagery, diction, rhyme, and tone. He suggests that the key to a successful life lies in the ability to reconcile, or at least accept and cope with, very different desires and needs. Many who might not be inclined to listen to advice might find it difficult to resist such a cleverly camouflaged homily. The contradictory statements, the graphic images, the platitudes and insights, the shifting tone and diction, the unusual rhythm and rhyme scheme, all come together to produce a unified effect, with just enough ambiguity, ambivalence, and humor to invite the reader back for another reading.
The father, possibly bereaved, is giving advice to his son. He only wants the best for his own creation. In the first two lines, the reader learns the theme of the poem, to live life to the fullest "as if each one may be your last." No one, who seeks happiness, wants to die knowing there is something greater they could have achieved in life, yet they have failed to achieve it. However, there is a thin distinction between living life to its highest potential, and being gluttonous. We often get so caught up in daily life that we lose sight of what really matters. Worse, it becomes a repeating cycle where we hurriedly do the same things everyday. If we are not doing the things that matter most, then it becomes a destructive pattern.
