Riding With Dad
The trick is not to go
looking for revelations
while keeping an eye on him.
I do tryto look for signs of weakness
underneath sunglasses he is overjoyed
to put on again--his first time driving in weeks--
to drop off something at his work
and converse with friends,
deciding he'll never retire.
He doesn't end up needing me
to drive him back,
so we end uphitting spots
for new clothes--cheap because
his weight turns back and forth
like a safe knob being cracked.
Each week, I expect him
back to full-size, not to continue
to stabilize while he takes me
backroads to the summer cabin
he found with help from his old boss,
who now has throat cancer
(40% chance of survival).
He gives me more facts
(the doctor claims my Dad
has the bones of a man
twenty years longer),
all of them small asides
to an unknown ending
I'll just have to be here to see.
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