My mom almost gave birth to me
in the backseat of a taxi on the way
to the hospital. My dad, per usual,
was at work. He worked in the factory
six days a week, 10, 12 hours a day,
throughout my growing up. He was
at work when I got up to go to school
and still not home when I went to bed.
Although he lived to be 96, he would
remain a stranger to me. There are people –
you may even know some – who think
that what can’t be easily understood
isn’t worth the effort to understand.
Howie Good is a professor emeritus at SUNY New Paltz whose poetry collections include The Dark and Akimbo, available from Sacred Parasite, a Berlin-based publisher. Sacred Parasite is scheduled to publish his newest collection, Dead Heroes, in 2026.