Time Travel
today’s my
dad’s birthday
we only had one together
as I recall
the one before he died
waited all my life to see him again
put college on hold
got on a plane in September
had Halloween in October
turkey in November
Christmas in December
New Years in January
Valentines in February
how would I know
how could I ever know
that’d be The End
think it takes a lifetime
to accept the unacceptable
you don’t ever get over it
when you lose someone
you love
you just live in a different time
and place
but you’re still wearing
his coat, his black coat
‘cause it smells like him
and you wrap your arms around yourself
and pray he’s still alive
you get to the hospital
and he’s there in the bed
looks like he’s asleep
his skin’s still warm
they had to pry me off him
I just lie on the floor
I can’t breathe
it rained all night
I remember it rained all night
picked out a silver casket
a suit for him to wear
a tie I had just bought him for Christmas
I wrote him a letter
and read it aloud at his funeral
I put roses on his grave
and went back to class
‘cause I was in the middle of a semester at UNLV
the professor in my creative writing course
told me he was glad I came back
and didn’t drop the class
he told me how hard it must be
he had no idea
no one did
TL