One day a child showed up in my house.
He came up to my chin, not a baby at all.
I wondered what I had done to cause this
and thought about cavemen who took
a mate and did that thing and voilá.
How long did it take them to know?
Our young ones usually think kissing.
Some think holding hands, marriage.
Any way you cut it, it’s a decision.
This boy told me he was hungry
so I poured him some cereal and thought
did I make a decision by accident
because I don’t remember the other thing.
I think I used to have a wife and maybe
a dog because there’s a little house out back.
There’s plenty of room here I tell the boy
and as he slurps the cereal he looks familiar.
I remember the joys of sloppy eating
so I poured a bowl and made a lot of noise
with the milk. I’ve always wanted a father
I say to him and he says I think you got that
mixed up a little and I said what’d I say.
He said I think you wanted to be a father
and I said yes, maybe there is a difference.
Let’s be fathers I said, putting my arm around him.
We’ll go make things and then we’ll leave them.
That’s the way I got here he said. We spent
the night in a tent by a foamy river.
All that water in the river knows where to go
the boy said as if the water was separate.
That sounds good to me I said but I meant
the way the river made it hard to hear.
We ate some berries and he told me which ones
he thought were poison but it sounded like a guess.
I ate the others anyway and so did he.
These taste like nobody’s ever eaten them
he said, and we had some good, purple laughs.
I would be proud to be your father I said,
and he asked me why, was I good at ruining things
and I thought back to my previous decisions
and said yes, son, it’s really my best thing.
