MY FATHER’S BIRTHDAY

 

my father’s birthday

I didn’t know for the longest time

I didn’t care or I preferred not to care

who was he

unloved as I was

unfound as I was

my father’s birthday

I sleepwalked for the longest time

when he died the world was dismantling

who he was

how he softened

amongst the most frightening

I didn’t know it for the longest time

caring and sharing had no sweet reprieve

who he was

who I loved

was mine for the undertaking

I sleepwalked for the longest time

my father’s birthday

like butter now melted

still had the source

from which it is was drawn

I am clarified now in the house 

I have crawled from

a rarified mouse in a kindly rat kingdom

I sleepwalk from birth

hate the markers of age

the memory of worth the scent of the rage

my father’s birthday

has a name has a date

the second of February

am I too late?

 

6.26.15

Woodcut "Tormented Man" Author