the unfinished complete works of d.f. petrella

Dick Van Dyke Reruns at 1 a.m.

I come home late at night
and he is asleep in front of the TV.
He sits upright with his head tipped back,
the remote rests in his lap and Dick Van Dyke trips over his ottoman on the screen.

He is asleep in front of the TV
and I come into the room to shut off the lights.
The remote in his lap, Dick Van Dyke on the screen,
I turn out the light and quietly say goodnight.

I come into the room and put out the lights.
Looking at him, I wonder when his hair got so gray.
Turning out the light, I whisper goodnight.
My dad stirs and mumbles in reply.

I look at him and wonder when he went so gray.
It must have happened when I was out with my friends or while I was away at school.
He mumbles goodnight and drifts back to sleep
or sometimes he gets up and joins my mother, so is already sleeping in the next room.

His hair went gray while I was out with friends or away at school.
What changes he must see in me
when he gets up to join my sleeping mother in the next room.
I’ve grown three feet while he was at work.

I wonder what changes he sees in me
and if he can take pride in the things he sees.
I grew three feet while he was working
and I inherited his penchant for puns.

I want my dad to be proud of what he sees in me.
We grow old before each other’s eyes
but we can always depend on one another for a pun.
Though we seem quite different, I see myself in what I know of him at my age.

We grow older before each other’s eyes
while he sleeps in front of the TV.
I see myself in my father
when I come home late at night.

Posted by dpetrella at October 28, 2003 12:57 AM