EVE

For my father

eve of nothing

eve of mass

eve of something’s
eve of past
eve of notions
big and small
eve of childhood
eve grown old
eve of many voices sung
eve of one
resists alone
eve of loving
eve of fire
eve before
next moment’s ire
takes me back
to songs unsung
stands me beside
that drunken choir
eve of fathers
out of tune
among the rest
who gauge the ruin
eve of loving
all the sins
eve of accuser
eve of forgiven
sing it anew
that standard hymn
eve of judgment
eve of sin
come ye faithful
to the circus
laugh at his misplaced

notes among us
eve of always
missing him
eve of me
his first born hymn