The memory of my father lies in
The stoop of my shoulders

The inability to hold them up
Is evenly balanced with the push into the small of my back
Leaving me with a queer spinelessness

I learnt to hate myself as I hated him,
In the twist of my arrogant nose
The overwrought hands
And the curve of a jagged smile

But somewhere in between these things I saw
Everything I ever loved
Eyes that spoke of quiet starlight
A jaw that tempered my furious mirth
A peace that babbled
Between each laugh

And so my mirror, forever Janus
Hides in it everything I have ever loved
And everything I try to.