Only Twelve

I just cannot comprehend—
Lost between the difference and the subtrahend:
I stand blocked by the Police Tape,
My 12-year old angel is in cuffs
And I must be to blame.
A middling school in LA:
She shot one in the head and grazed the others,
But we were going to Krispy Kreme.
Now I can’t afford a lawyer,
Maybe the family can help,
No dreamers here
And my own dreams for her are all gone.
She is just only a girl, she’s 12?!
She took the gun to school—
Where can I go to rip out her pain?
What did I miss between Snapchat
And her friends on her iphone?
It’s all my fault still and again and again;
Thoughts of suicide,
Thoughts of murder.
Walls of Police Tape:
Who would want to cross
And dwell inside the real true horror?
Was I not listening?
What was it I could not see?
I love my kid,
Undeniably,
She’s only 12….

As of 8:30PM CST:
Breaking News – Story Developing
Los Angeles police say middle school shooting that critically wounded boy was accidental
Feb 01, 2018
Geez, I sure hope so! That it was deliberate is too awful to contemplate!

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Forgiving Father Marvelous

Moving down the page
At an acceptable change of pace,
We were so kind of in love,
Though I seem to have misplaced her face.
But I’m sure she was brunette
And possessive of wit and lust,
But like most of my choices
It all kinda went for spit and bust.
So here I write Saharan poetry—
Dry and empty as this Austin life.
Hoping better for the kid unit;
Truth oft separates like a steak fat knife.
No, no deep answers here:
Just marooned on the less traveled.
Awaiting that unadorned underbox
Overlaid in Southern granite that’s neatly marbled.

In Drive In Park

He put the car in drive,
Out the driveway towards Albert Lane,
It would be a new 12 days to pass
Before seeing his daughter again.

He left the window open a crack;
Perhaps she’d forget something and would call?
No, he didn’t like dropping her at Fablehaven;
No, not really, not actually much at all.

His role snap-changed to just an aging man
When moments before he was in a family.
So what if it was only a family in two—
It was all he had here so far west of St. Tammany.

The tears dried absent just as expected,
With old long practice at things not being as one wanted.
Some would exalt giddy at this free, single life,
But he didn’t think that this kind of alone was all that vaunted.

Turning back to home on Glencrest Drive
As another Sunday evening purpled into dark,
He allowed a thought that it was perhaps okay—
And put the car in park.

Most Of All

The tickle of your gaze is comforting
The snug of you hugging completes
The joy in your smile is remembering
The little girl has grown
The young woman surprises and grows
Fonder of an old memory with the toss of your mane
Makes passing old acceptable
Graying can be countenanced because you have been launched well
For that I’m ever grateful
Thank goodness for you
Thank goodness I was there to see
You surpassing me
***
Love you
Love you more
Love you most
Love you more than most
Love you—
Most of all