Father's Day

The posters in shop windows

order me to buy a card.

They tell me how to feel.              

They describe you like this:

You’re special

Number one dad

The best dad in the world.

They remark;

Thanks for being there.

There are cards for dads who like

Golf, gardening, DIY

There are cards with cartoons,

motorbikes

and racing cars.

Cards filled with sentimental slop

and silly jokes.

These cards speak a shared language,

Between sender and sendee.

Dad, I love you.

Dad, take it easy

Dad deserves a day off.

But where are the cards for un-special dads

For the worst dad in the world?

The ones who took a lifetime off

Where are the cards for the dads who failed?

Where are the cards for the dead dads,

the rubbish dads, the missing dads

the violent dads?

The dads we don’t love, or can’t like.

I want a card that says

‘You fucked it up.’

Maybe then you’ll stop calling.

________

Lost

What happened to the letter

You wrote to your parents

That breezy letter

like they were a pen-pal

Or a dear friend.

I was in awe of that letter

The tone of it was just right

You told them about me, about Yarmouth,

and Brighton

You hoped they were OK

And you didn’t want anything from them.

I wept when you showed me it

and said you didn’t mind if they didn’t reply.

You said it so convincingly.

What happened to the letter?

That should have been the letter

They’d been waiting for

For 15 years.

Did they even open it?

Did your mother weep, like I did

Why didn’t she reply?

Lost in the mail once, maybe, but you sent it twice

Unless they were dead.

Your dad is 80.

But then, wouldn’t someone have told you?

What happened to the letter?

How can you turn love off?

I wonder about curiosity and

Maternal and paternal instinct.

I wish they could know you

Like I know you.

Like I love you.

If I had their address, I wouldn’t send

a letter

I’d send a bomb.

________________