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Something written for my father on what would have been his 77th birthday - 1/5/13 |
I wonder what you thought about the word closure Did you find its premise perfectly fine And the application completely ill-fitting, as I do? The warning could have been a minute, a year, or a decade Or exactly as it was, eight ill-fated days The mythical creature, Closure, has never appeared And besides, I've stopped searching So instead I try keeping the good in my mind I really do Rather than ponder 'if you were here' Or bemoan how damn unfair it was, and is We spent hours, days, weeks at the duck pond Stale bread dissolving in muddy water As you told me all about the books you read Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, indeed Still one of my favorites Training me for the spelling bees! You'd say, "You're too smart for baby words, Jay." And, "If it doesn't have 10 or more letters, we're skipping it!" ... "Regard. R-E-G-U-A-R-D, regard." "I'm sorry, that is incorrect." ...! You never wavered in your belief Of how hard work meant your ship would come in someday Today many consider that a silly notion But back then things were different, and you were right I whined when you put The Clancy Brothers on Or one of your hundred Irish albums But the truth is, I adored much of the music you did And simply wanted you to sing those songs (because you sang them better) Finding out your funny quirks resonated with me Your nervousness at my driving "Why do you have to change lanes?" "Because, they're going 40 in a 65 zone Daddy!" Or discovering you watched Beavis and Butthead late at night I hated that show, but loved to laugh with you Making it completely worth it Learning you were a closet Buffalo Bills fan You taught me the rules of the game And about Flutie Flakes while you were at it Finding out you'd served You never mentioned, except to say, when I asked, "I was in the Army." And now, I have all your papers, and that ID from the 50's The border is cracked and flaking But the black and white photo still persists ...Persists Until next year then... Happy Birthday, Daddy |