I’m happy; but why so sad?
I miss my dad.

I saw him last a year ago
I wiped his *** and so

I told him I was proud
I’m glad I said it out loud

Because now I can’t
Nothing to recant

He met the end with dignity
And aplomb, didn’t he?

Lovable lug of a man
Emulate? I’ll try if I can

I thought him an ******* republican
At age 18—then thought again

I left home to be me
Family? I was free!

Young, naive, on my own
I made my own home

Family was for other guys
That umbilical thought otherwise

Because there was another
Yeah, my mother

Always there, always kind
Reminded me of mine

Calls ended with, “Here’s your father...”
A Lake Woebegone bother

“Hello son...” he’d intone
“Hey, pops,” I’d own

Every poem needs a fulcrum
A change always welcome

I’d say before the call stopped
“I love you, pops”

Months, years, eons begun
Finally, “I love you too, son.”

Next defies time, logic and law
A love so deep it fills me with awe

We became good friends
Mutual respect to the end

The loss cuts deep
And so I weep

And you still have
Your mom and dad?

Call them.
Amen.