Issue Index

Full-Time Dads;

The Magazine for Caregiver Fathers

Issue 24

Tami

By Mike Catalano

My third-born, daughter unplanned
I miss you, missing me, missing you
I could curse fate aborting our years
separated by cold-fish judges
but instead I'll savor the hors d'oeuvres
more precious than the Doritos you smack
what I've seen, I forever remember
and no agency can steal our memories
we rubbed our brown eyes together
escaping Crystal Gayle's blues
you fish-faced me to death
with those girlish, ghoulish kisses
your free, fanatic fetishes
from clowns to sunflowers
rock music to country and western
belt-length to should hair-
sibling struggles etching your own identity

my personal chiropractor
walking my back like a Salinas bacéro
I'll take your $25 fee
over the corporate $25 plus, plus, plus
soon (very soon), you'll be a teenager
troubled and turbulent
but just remember, Tami
through the miles may separate us
your daddy's door is ever open
when none else will listen
or pretend to understand
your favorite song echoes my heart
"I will always love you."

Copyright 1996 Mike Catalanor