Nice, Happy Little Father's Day Poem

So To Make You Think

On that morning
I drank my coffee black
So to make you think
I'd grown into a simple man,
A strong man.

(I pretended that the smoke
Thick in the truckstop cafe
Didn't bother me at all).

I remember-
On that morning
I talked a bit lower
So to make you think
I'd turned into a serious man,
A sensible man.

(I made out that the years,
Thick with your departures,
Were all just ions, unattracting).

I remember-
On that morning
I grabbed the check like a martyr
So to make you think
I'd grown into
Less of a leaver
More of a rock
Less of a coward and
More of a man
Than you.

I remember-
On that morning
We walked outside together
Into the crisp of December.
We shook hands.
I attacked you and absolved you
With my eyes,
While yours were bloodshot,
Cracked windshields
With a sudden, innapropriate flash of pride
And a completely appropriate shock of regret.
I know I heard your voice break.

So we parted ways,
Affecting a certain gift of closure,
A certain airing of our past,
A single slice of all I needed,
And a sliver of healing, at last.