gigondas

my father
when I was five
living on Battery Place

went for milk
3 days later
he came back

I had this
red dirt bike
a Mongoose
I loved Rikki Tikki Tavi

I was out front under the Magnolia tree

they have beautiful
waxy green leaves
and brownish grey-green cones

they seem to shed both
year round

the cones fall then
the seeds turn blood red
on the dirt

I was out front
Mom ran out
screaming

what
I don't know

I knew to run
he deserved it

but still
he was Dad

I rode
my red dirt bike

to the creek
where there was always someone
ready to ride

to this Oak
which seemed
to my four or five year old mind

to have a limb span
casting out creating

a two hundred foot Umbra
which blocked the rain

and someone no one knew
who or when
had erected a ramp

the limbs hung high
enough for jumping

you could ride out the rain dry
and go home

whenever you liked

triumphant
like noble Rikki

at the outset of sunset
I headed home

early twilight
brought the buzz of the crickets

singing
each to each
my mother's call
come home

then
come home again

then
supper time

a mild reminder
then a smile
she was happy to see me
proud

Dad in front of the TV
my sister nearby

that night
we ate at the table all together
it seems