Stare Bear

First published in Bareknuckle Poet, FIGHT: Round 3, 2020

after Michael Zavros’s Bad dad, 2013

Narcissus would have sighed in envy

of you. Stare bear into

that uncanny blue, inflatable boy

toy super dad, champion of triple

-takes and nothing.

High-five your own pruned

fingers, Dad. Your feet barely

touch rock bottom. Step out, nosedive

into deep end, sink until your whole

body stays under like a brick.

You cannot hear me with your ears

muffled below the surface, can

you? Only noises and charades, never clear

voices. Hear us bomb, pencil, swan without

fear of hitting the bottom.

Maybe you glimpsed it already, hummed

below creepy crawly spidering

over your foot, left impressions round your eyes

when you slid off your goggles. Party’s

over, champ. Get out.

Your towel’s already soaked

and starting to smell off.