Sentimental Moment Robert Hershon Analysis

“Sentimental Moment or Why Did the Baguette Cross the Road?” is a touching poem by Robert Hershon, a Brooklyn raised American author and poet. One of many, this poem is simple yet intricate, seemingly hiding a somewhat deeper meaning than it is letting on. The tale follows (who we can safely assume to be) Hershon and his grown son Jed on their way to lunch. Hershon is absent-mindedly treating his son like a child, which he (Jed) somewhat takes offense to. They then cross the street, which is when we find out that Hershon will sometimes reach for his son’s hand during such tasks, showing how he still feels as if he is in a certain parental role. It is then that it is revealed that once you become a parent, a role model and guiding hand for your children, you are never truly released from said role.
It goes from something serious (or at least neutral) with “Sentimental Moment” to a (possibly) bad pun (“Why Did the Baguette Cross the Road?). This can show the poem in a sort of airy and humorous light, and may come off as some sort of “dad joke”. What a great juxtaposition of two different mindsets. It could also be a metaphor for the son growing older and drifting apart from his father, or “crossing the road.” His father wishes to help him to the other side, but he is already there. “Don’t fill up on bread”, this is the first line that we see. While it may seem trivial, it has a much deeper meaning than it is letting on. It shows that the father still sees his son as the helpless child he once cared for. In the next stanza, it clearly states that the son is aged, with only a simple remark about his (slightly) receding hairline. We know that the son is more than likely somewhere in his early to mid-forties, well past the age a father should be “babying” his child. It is then that we begin to wonder why the father would be treating his son in such a