DAD'S IDEA OF A LOVE LETTER

by Michelle Rogge



Tucked away in Mother's lingerie drawer--
A letter from Dad that doesn't say much.
"Don't know what you'd ever come back here for.  
Town's the same -- boring -- crops growin', and such."

A car mechanic, young, a Philistine,
He wrote -- smudging -- grease on his fingers,
Breaking lead, frustration in every line,
And yet -- it can be said -- his words linger,

For she moved back to town and married Dad.
She read -- between the smudges- - love in this
Letter, but the closest he came to that
Was to write, "I guess you know who I miss." 

The "mushy" things he felt he couldn't say,
Although he wrote "S.W.A.K."