Exterminating Angel Press

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Exangel

Letter To An Imaginary Father (excerpts).

by

by Ben White.

 

XIII

 

Your choices

And subsequent directions

Have made you

An imaginary figure –

A figment

Represented by

Absence –

But that’s all

I might have ever been

To you as well,

So in the voids

Of any relationship

It’s hard to tell.

I was merely a by-product

On your way to destruction –

So forgive me

If I don’t

Follow.

 

XX

 

Seattle is full of down-hards

Who walk Pioneer Square wanting most

To get out of there and back

To Alaska

To be left alone and let

The lower 48 do whatever

They have to do to race

With rats who depend on

Policies and diplomats to make life

Luxurious

With social services provided

And no way to hide it that

The land of plenty has many

Disenfranchised associates who have

A valid claim on absolutely

Nothing –

Not even a dream.

 


 

XXII

 

Ghosts stare from my mirror, and I see you smiling there

As all the images

Come reflecting back to be compared, but it’s only

A physical resemblance –

I could never act like you,

As different times, people, places, and events

Have influenced what is true,

And what is true for me

Has been lifted from your absence,

So all I can do

Is imagine,

 

And write letters.

 

 

 

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