the fat man and his tuba

for some

reason there was an old tuba

in our basement

beneath the steps.

a friend

of my father had left

it there

after a night of drinking,

those were happy

nights

when this enormous man

came over.

i remember my father

laughing at

all of his jokes,

his blue eyes twinkling

and tearing up.

but the years went by,

my father left

and we never

saw the tuba man again.

the tuba stayed though,

left behind.

we used to take

it out

at times and with two sisters

holding it up,

we'd blow

on it, we tried to

get it to make a noise 

of some sort, but to no avail.

we were bone skinny,

and had just enough air 

in us to live.