December 8, 1980

Tammy Brewer Poetry, Full of Crow, June 2009

“I’m just sitting here
watching the wheels go
round and round. . .”
-- John Lennon “Watching The Wheels”

 

Reel to reel home movies
flicker in my mind.
Everything was brighter then.
Red brick walls, wood paneling.
Upstairs my sisters and I
would hold dad’s albums
close to our chests and dance
as though we were dancing
with the Beatles themselves.

I was five years old at the time.
Two days later my dad would turn 26.
I only saw the back of him
in the kitchen that night.
His face hidden in calloused hands,
laminate countertop reaching out
from each side as if to hold him.

 

He couldn’t wedge himself deep enough
into that corner.