808

my father told me

it’s never easy
to live like you want
we all make compromises
don’t look so scared

months later
this, a voicemail

“all I want is some sleep
I wake at five
and can’t dream no matter
the voice that’s in my ear

I’m trying sleeping pills
when I’m not too drunk
I just wake again
and
someone called me thief

I lost all my children
to negligence and fear
a little thing in rags
with a weak neck
looking out over the lake

I wondered what I had done”

no that’s me
no that’s me
now
no
that’s me