Poems for Dad: One Year Later

 Evening Journal

I was talking to your portrait this morning

I never imagined myself as that type of person 

Things I mentioned to you came to pass later that day 

I will be more careful now that I know you are listening

11/20/23

You don't call anymore 

but we still talk most days

I can feel your answers as I sift through the history 

of all the things you held dear

12/06/23

I have yet to hang your portrait 

the one where your smile gives comfort 

and your eyes say you know my intent 

It seems I am delaying the final act of memorial

04/7/24

They asked if I missed you on Father's Day

I stumbled with my reply when I realized 

it was the same as the day you left 

and would be from now on

07/01/24

You came by in another late night dream

to pick up your mail and some clean shirts 

As I sat on the edge of your bed I knew

I could never take your place but would have to try

09/02/24

Books that once held little interest for me 

seem to fascinate me now

I wonder if I am reading them for you 

or you are reading them for me 

09/15/24

Committed to Memory

It seems

she remembers 

everything.

Me

not so much.

I am not sure

when I began

to look right at the movie actors

and hear the bell of memory

ringing off in the distance

just far enough away

to make the sound of their name

undecipherable

(It was Eli Wallach

and she knew it instantly.)

My memory now operates independently 

judging the importance of names and events

regardless of my efforts

but there have been moments

when I knew immediately

I had witnessed the unforgettable 

like when I told my father 

that she was sick

his very last words to me were

“Well, tell her I’m thinking about her.”

I am fairly certain

I’ll remember that 

forever.

March 2023

Ken Owen    October 25, 2024

Van Niddy Press