Windows and the Law

i have to let my father go, again

i have let him go before but the same

problem remains

and so there he is, looming and

weak but stubborn

history is not merely a series of lamentations

and complaints, ordinances broken

speeding tickets and penalties:

history is this enormous window

that is illuminated briefly

try to clean it from time to time

if only to catch a glimpse

of me waving goodbye to 

a man who cannot wave back

***