He wasn’t there
for my sixth birthday
eighth grade football games
my high school graduation
or college
not when I moved away
not my wedding
not the birth of my daughter
or son
never gave job advice
or girlfriend advice
never helped fix my car
or took me to a ball game.
Instead
my sister taught me to ride a bike
my brother how to work a drill
my mother how to treat others
and others filled in the gaps
but I had to figure out the rest
on my own.
These are the things
taken from me
on that night
in June
of ’67.
Missed by Jim Landwehr | Sandalwood Poetry Reed Diffuser
Jim has six poetry collections, Tea in the Pacific Northwest, Thoughts from a Line at the DMV, Genetically Speaking, On a Road, Written Life and Reciting from Memory. He also has four memoirs, At the Lake, Cretin Boy, Dirty Shirt and The Portland House. He lives in Waukesha, WI USA
