What Would I Say

My Father died at 63

I’m now 75

I remember the day

I turned 63

Thinking I would finally know

What he knew

Be able to feel what he felt

See what he saw

And to be who he was

But I wasn’t a decorated

World War 2 Marine

The last of his platoon 

To survive

The Solomon Islands the graveyard

Of most of his friends

He died on a Thursday

But we were estranged

‘Another woman who was not my Mom’

Looking back I wonder

What could I have changed

What words would I have used

To say to him …

(To Edward F. Behm U.S.M.C.: March, 2024)