Partial Custody

He pulled his daughter’s headphones

out of her ears and said

Have you ever simply understood

the parallels between Old Men

and gnarled Oak Trees,

has it ever occurred to you that the answer is in sorting out

the terrible thoughts which we seek

to scatter with noise,

the thoughts which we attack with mutated of

flamethrowers which retard able minds

that all the TV shows and Bubble Gum Pop Stars

and Silver Screen Deities are distracting us

from simplicity and peace.

The daughter shrugged off his

fatherly diligence

and continued to listen to the music,

he wanted to record this conversation somehow

so she would know later that he tried to warn her.

But, he would drop her off to her mother’s in an hour

and not worry about it to

keep sane,

his ability to be human was only every other week.

#298