I LIKE MOM BETTER ANYWAY
i've practiced the conversation
about a thousand times
just in case she doesn't want
an abortion
just in case a swift kick down a
couple flights of stairs doesn't
do the trick
just in case hush money isn't
accepted
i've practiced the conversation
explaining to my child why i'm
inadequate as a father nearly a
thousand times
starting off about how my father
never told me he loved me unless
my mother forced him to
how my father never showed me
how to build or fix anything
helping was either holding a ladder
or staying the fuck out of the way
how my father never showed me
how to interact in public without
being loaded on alcohol
how my father... and it's at this
point where my child stops me
and says i get it dad, you're an
asshole, it's ok, i like mom
that's much better than how my last
conversation went with my father
i told him if he threatened my
mother again, i'd kill him
of course, i'm prepared for the
threat of death from my child
after all
given the history of this gene pool
it seems the only natural way
JJ CAMPBELL (b. 1976) lives, writes but mostly dies a little each day in Brookville, Ohio. He's been widely published in the small press over the years, most notably in Zygote in My Coffee, Thunder Sandwich, Chiron Review, Nerve Cowboy and Underground Voices. You can contact J.J. via email at jcampb4593@aol.com.
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