04-16-21

When I was in college
my dad would never
come home after 9pm or so.
One Saturday night
it's 9:30 and he's nowhere
and this is before cell phones
so I call the golf course
where he works and there's nothing.
Eventually one of his friends
rings me up to tell me my dad 
has been arrested
but everything is fine.
There's a buddy he sells golf balls to
and he's a lawyer
just show up at the jail tomorrow
to pick him up.
So I have this
bomb that goes off
in my head 
if I get a call from my dad 
too late in the evening.
And these days
he calls me late
just to tell me stories
he forgot to relay
about his day
at the cancer clinic.
Tonight, it was about
a lady that takes requests
and sings to patients
and he reenacted it
with his gravelly 
screechy voice
how she sang
"Besame Mucho"
but he was so happy
and
I wasn't scared
for a bit.

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