The Silent Tension of "A Story"

In Li-Young Li's poem, "A Story," the central tension that develops between the father and the boy when telling a story, helps show the theme of loosing a loved one by a small mistake.  The literary device of flashfoward helps to develop the tension by causing the father to visualize what twill happen if he doesn't tell the boy a new story.  Metaphor helps in the flash foward to develop tension when the man compares himself to a god.  The man uses this to say that he has done everything for the boy, but the man still has no say in the boy's future life.  The flashfoward and metaphor shows, "that a boy's supplications and a father's love add up to silence," can lead to the loss of a loved one. 
-Sarah Irvin