You hadn't seen your father in such a long time, he
Died in the arms of his lover. How
Dare he?
Your mother never left the house, she
Never married anyone
Else; you took it upon yourself to console her.

You reminded her so much of your
Father, so you were banished and you
Wonder why you're so hypersensitive and why you
Can't trust anyone but us, but then how
Can I begin to forgive her? So many
Years under bridges with dirty water, she was
Foolish and selfish
And cowardly if you ask me.

I don't know where to begin. In all of my
Fifty odd years, I have been silently
Suffering and adapting
Perpetuating and enduring. Who are you younger generation to tell me
That I have unresolved problems? Not many examples of fruits of
This type of excruciating labour.

How can you just throw words around like
Grieve and heal and mourn? I've been fine -
We may not have been born as awake as you were
It was much harder in those days
We had paper routes uphill both ways
We went from
School to a job to a wife to instant parenthood.

I walked into his office. I felt
So self-conscious on the couch. He was
Sitting down across from me; he was
Writing down his hypothesis -
I don't know; I've got a
Loving, supportive wife who doesn't
Know how involved she should get. You say his
Interjecting was him just calling me on my shit.

Just the other day, my sweet daughter, I was
Driving past 203; I walked
Up the stairs - in my mind's eye, I remember
How they would creak loudly
She was only responsive with a drink; he was
Only responsive by photo; I was
Only trying to be the best big brother I could.

I've walked sometimes; confused sometimes. Ready to
Crack open wide - sometimes indignant; sometimes raw
Can you imagine? I pay him 75
Dollars an hour - sometimes it feels like
Highway robbery and sometimes it's
Peanuts. I wish it could last a
Couple more hours.

So here we both are battling similiar
Demons; not coincidentally. You see in getting
Beyond knowing, it solely intellectually; you're not
Relinquishing your majestry
You are wise
You are warm
You are courageous; you are big
And I love you more now than I
Ever have in my whole life.