My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke is a short poem describing the relationship between a young child and his father. While it is easy to assume that the dad is an abusive alcoholic because "The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy" or "You beat time on my head with a palm caked hard by dirt." I see this poem as playful. The father has palms caked hard by dirt because he works a manual laboring job and by the time he gets home it is bedtime for the little boy. The dad would like to "waltz" with his child before he is shooed off to bed. The dad, having had a few drinks makes the waltz more of a stumbling dance and is described as clumsy and loud. For example, "We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf." The word 'romp'