the gator go
getter playing
husband and
father
old sage from
a twenty-year
old scars and
broken bones and
arthritis and
those beautiful
deep set brown
eyes when he says
i don't know if
they love me
and my heart
breaks in my
old ugly narrow
chest because
i can't make it
right,
because
i can't make him
see
the grace of his
words and his actions,
the power he has
to comfort, to
be an example, to
sacrifice, to
step up as a
husband, a
father,
blindly
to be a man in
an era of
exploited
manhood.
i can honor
him only
by listening.
i can honor
him only by
remembering.
February 22, 2021
