Mark

My dad told me If I scalp tickets
instead of going to college,
he would break my fingers.
I don’t think he would do that.
Although he is no stranger to violence,
he loves me.
But he would weep.
Like he wept in the hospital over my poisoned body.
Like he wept telling me about the man
who tried to take away my mother.
Like the time I told him
I would take my son to Legoland,
and hold his hand, the way he held mine,
while he scalped tickets.

Promise me,
you will live long enough to see it.