Poem for My Father

For all those reasons too
I have scribbled in obscurity
Through each day
The alembic drips

Whether defying received wisdom
Or spurning proffered sympathy
Yet still longing in private
For some crumb more
Than self-respect

Towards the Finland Station
You made your way
Constantly crisscrossing
The tracks proceeding
At your own good pace
So restless means seldom bored

Through it all
You composed a song
For a Jazz Combo
Where urban sets the beat
Balanced by a country air
As with strings of longing
Drawn forward
And from student days
Hear the flute's
Lyrical call
While a guitar provides
The loin's true heat

Even to those who
Consider themselves
Of animal or plant parenthood
I say the heart must stay strong
However divided
As two pieces of obsidian
Broken from the self same stone

And so I am
My Father's Son
I swear it
On this very ground
Where he lies today
I leave one half
While the other
I take away