I don’t eat cereal as much as I used to.
Mind you, even when I was younger I didn't eat it every day.
However, in my life I have eaten more bowls of cereal
than I can even begin to count.
Not only does the sheer volume of cereal consumption escape me
I can’t recall the brands.
Now the question that I find
begins to haunt my waking mind,
have I already eaten the best bowl of cereal I will ever consume
and forgotten the taste?

I will be eternally content
just to reside in your vicinity
to sometimes hear your laugh
and see you let your hair down
never closer than arms length
always standing just off stage
happy just to be near by
while your light is on display

I cut my thumb, when the dollhouse door won’t open.
I scraped my knuckles, when the blue crayon gut stuck.
A fathers hands are tough.

I swing her high, when we ring around the rosie.
I hold her hand, when it’s time to cross the street.
A fathers hands are safe.

I wipe her tears, when her favorite toy gets broken.
I tuck her in, when it’s time to say goodnight.
A fathers hands are love.

the day is darker through my eyes
the night as black as oil
where others see green verdant grass
I see only barren broken soil

my nights are longer, shadows stronger
not letting even starlight in
the dark stands tall and mocks it all
with a queer and maniacal grin

my soul suffers no glad tidings here
and laughs at your naivete
it shudders lonely through the night
as it basks in my depravity