I hope I don’t die
before I clean out
the basement
There’s bound to be
embarrassments down there
for my children
Obviously nothing would
bother me once
I was dead
That said I don’t know
why I’d care about
being found out
human by my kids
We all know we are
capable of Shakespearean
faults and vain lusts
blindly murderous impulses
petty jealousies and fooleries
Still it’s difficult to let go
of fearful parental roles
patterned after God
that one you thank
out of reflex knowing
you’ll be gone
when they discover
you were just another
love-clumsy bag of air
Reprinted from In the Weeds (Drumlummon Institute, 2021). Copyright © 2021 by Mark Gibbons. Used with permission of the author. All rights reserved.