Upon Your Father’s Denouement
by Baylie Raddon
You can’t be so nonchalant,
The action is over, embrace the imminence
Upon your father’s denouement.
If not me, find another confidant,
Untie all lingering childhood resentments;
You can’t be so nonchalant.
This week, your sister made you an aunt,
More frayed family, enduring last amendments
Upon your father’s denouement.
And when all anything ever does is taunt
Your already loose faith in contentment,
You can’t be so nonchalant.
As he resolves, admit that the thing you most want
Is an aisle-walker, grandfather for your descendants
Upon your father’s denouement.
You will have to choose a picture, a eulogy font,
Fasten yourself to final morphine-slurred sentiments.
You can’t be so nonchalant
Upon your father’s denouement.
The action is over, embrace the imminence
Upon your father’s denouement.
If not me, find another confidant,
Untie all lingering childhood resentments;
You can’t be so nonchalant.
This week, your sister made you an aunt,
More frayed family, enduring last amendments
Upon your father’s denouement.
And when all anything ever does is taunt
Your already loose faith in contentment,
You can’t be so nonchalant.
As he resolves, admit that the thing you most want
Is an aisle-walker, grandfather for your descendants
Upon your father’s denouement.
You will have to choose a picture, a eulogy font,
Fasten yourself to final morphine-slurred sentiments.
You can’t be so nonchalant
Upon your father’s denouement.
Upon Your Father’s Denouement was originally published in PCCInscape Magazine Vol 74 No. 1 Print issue.
Author's Bio
Baylie is a third-year student at Pasadena City College where she tutors in the writing center and takes more English classes than she needs to transfer. She plans on getting a PhD in either English Literature or Linguistics, that is, if she can stand being on this side of academia for 6+ more years. She participated in National Novel Writing Month and published The Flipside when she was thirteen. She loves few things more than the scene in The Stranger where the old man is crying for his dog in the hallway and Meursault thinks of Maman. (placeholder)