D and A

the ol man regretted not fixing things he'd broke      
before he built something new      
ladders,swings,slides      
were always so tall      
something about a shaving razor      
used to be his father's father's      
faded,overstretched,wool, colgate sweater      
cuz that's where that man went to school      
after digging ditches      
     
she had that      
i should be laying on a piano      
whispering lulla byes, photogenic genesis      
when her husband pulled my brother's hair
as a baby     
the first time we met      
she took his whiskey away      
she planted the orchids and black lillies      
left on the back of cemetary hill      
by those just trying to stow their own sleeplessness      
     
abstract non nicotine negative yella stained parallelograms      
left behind      
when flipbook black and white bar code of the old country above the fireplace      
went to drawer      
something in the walls      
large type animal growling      
woman singing      
bulkhead on the back of the house      
to basement filled in

     
     
the first of the boys not born in the motherland      
that i'd ever known      
sits in the rocking chair still      
ever since after      
his mother went away
and his son's did too