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Dad and Daughter
My daughter
on the ice
twelve years old
blue skates flashing
black pants,
black coat two sizes too big
a black crow flapping
red pink and blue
cap rakish
barely covers brown curls
flying effortless
around the rink
Now she’s removed
her coat, transformed into
a white and black gull,
now she’s cold again
wants a hot chocolate
Upstairs in the heated pool
she becomes a
blue dolphin, asks,
how many back somersaults
should she do
I shrug, two
she does thirteen
one for next year
like the candles on a cake
She’s captain of
the volley ball team,
juggler in the children’s circus,
plays the guitar
composes her own songs,
she writes short stories
and poems
I sit in a comfortable chair,
come join me she sings
her head dripping diamonds
I’ll swim one more length
then you’ll come. OK?
the water is warm and pleasant
I float on my back
she pops up from somewhere
underneath, wants an ice cream
I swim a whole breadth underwater
to meet her challenge
how old are you Aba she asks-
she knows I’m sixty nine
I’m seventy I reply
no Aba you’re sixty nine
you’re still young,
let’s go bowling
then back to the ice
one more time
Tomorrow she goes back
to her mother
and I go back
to writing poems
© Johnmichael Simon
2007
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