Poetry

Don't be so hard on yourself
by Dennis "M.A. Dennis" Francis
When it comes to parenting, 
               we 
               all 
               fall 
              short 
             of the glory 
             of God.

When I think of my shortcomings as a father, 
I think of Abraham and what must’ve been 
a strained relationship with his son: On their
way down from the mountain, how awkward
(and unsafe) did Isaac feel, after the almost-
human sacrifice? What if the governor, or 
goat, hadn’t called at the very last second?

When I think of my shortcomings as a dad, 
I think of Darth Vader, 
and Thanos, 
and O.J. Simpson, 
and animal kingdom patriarchs 
who eat their own young, 
and I think: I’m not as bad as I think.

When it comes to childhood, I had almost
no father—and was thrust into the dad role
without orientation or supervised training, 
and worked triplet-shifts because the job
wouldn’t gimme a break!—so I listen to my 
inner-Nell Carter: Don’t be so hardened heart
on your(stiff-necked)self.

When I think of my failures as a parent, 
I recall my son as a baby, having congestion 
so bad he couldn’t breathe—and that damn 
squeezy bulbous rubber nasal thingamajig 
wasn’t doing jack shit… So to hell with it: 
I put my mouth over his nose 
and sucked out the mucus.