my father

pacing back
and forth, strangely
chewing gum
with a nervousness
i haven't seen
before, as his
friend, sat there
smiling, thin, guant,
a wig lopsided on
her small head,
i understood the
quickness of this
life in that brief
awkward moment
of unsaid words.
i felt that i
would not return
again with both
of them there
and hoped that i
was wrong, and not
letting my own
small cloud
darken the day.