his happiness

you want to tell
your father, that it's over
for white
shoes
and a matching white
belt.
sky blue pants.
you want to carefully nudge him,
saying
that he doesn't need to dye
his hair anymore
at eighty-five.
forget the vitamin C
wrinkle cream too.
you want to tell him
about
cell phones and the new
tvs
that aren't in a set
of dresser drawers.
there's
music other than Sinatra too,
benny goodman,
but you don't.
his happiness is his.
not yours.