the love you take

together
the three of you. your
sister
and father
sit down to move line by line
across the pages
of his last will and testament.
asking
for names, asking who gets
what,
and when.
which bank. which trust.
we tie a bow around his life
putting everything
but him into a box.
your sister reads out loud
the legal rendering
as his blue eyes
look but do not see
what is written.
he's punitive towards some,
and generous
to others. no explanations
are needed,
or asked for.
the love given or not
given
during his life is
tallied in the final count.
someone turns a radio on
and we listen
to music, drinking ice
tea in the sun
as the ink dries.