Before You Go, I Want to Love You

This poem was written by Julian Guy in a 12-Month Poetry Collection Generator taught by Angel Nafis.

Dad, I want for you, the perfect life. The undead
son. No divorce. Children who love you. Money enough
for a house in the mountains and no neighbors
except big bucks shedding their treasured antlers
on your doorstep. Someone to love you the way
you have always needed to be loved. In time and bites
of food. Someone who fixes the bed with no creases,
who could dig up rust and rocks, no fear
of bears, or cancers, or what they have done
to their children. A warm sky and never-snow.
Relationships with your sisters. A gallery that asks
for more paintings. Good teeth. Friends
who let you cry with them, borrow money, sleep
on the couch and never leave. For you to see your parents
again. The ocean again. The house you grew up in
again. That these things could be yours, untouched
by hurricanes and economies, botched surgeries, God’s
unrelenting hand. That you could be un-responsible
for all of it. That it could come to you easy as heaven.