Devoted husband, who tosses a ball
To your daughter, hoists her on
Your shoulders, parades her about the pool.
Does she suspect when you lay her down
For a nap, while your wife prepares the roast,
That you slip out the back, hop
The fence, stutter a greeting at my door,
Lift your shirt and place my hand, swart, rough,
Against your chest, spread your body
Like a cross upon my bed and press
our shoulders together?
___________Then exit quickly,
Leaving your T-shirt sprawled on the floor.
What will you tell her when you show up
To supper, shirtless? That you left it
At the ball field, discarded by first base?
Devoted husband, who tucks your daughter
In tonight, reads her Peter Pan.
She doesn't see the ladder propped at the window,
Cannot feel the longing in your hand
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