For Tatay (1929-1996)

Text

it’s never

then


somewhere and all this time

i’ve missed you


underneath every soft light there’s something else


here in the morning

mid-morning

i will meet you at the house

on the doorstep

where i cannot remember you


handkerchief tears


understanding, withholding


hearing nothing but birds and

bike tires over gravel


everywhere gentle grief growing and hiding

in regret


hands in the blue, where will we go?



Mico Astrid