if the
lingering
ache
is any
indication
of your
impact
on my life
who i am
as a person

no one compares
to you
dad

you would
have been
sixty-nine
if you hadn’t
left us
twenty-three
years ago

and still
your absence
this week
is an open
abyss
in my soul

just imagine
all the terrible
jokes we would
have made
to celebrate

i leave a pack
of marlboros
and a case of
miller lite out
every year
just in case
your memory gets thirsty