For Danny Lee Miller

This is how you dad:
.                 I’m three. First time in the ocean.
.                The waves knock me down and I laugh.
.                You stand, a giant against the abyss.
.                The waves knock me down and I laugh.
.                Because you are a giant against the abyss.

This is how you dad:
.                I’m five. Staring down the basement stairs.
.                There’s a deep bottom somewhere in that darkness.
.                When you were five you walked by yourself to the movies.
.                I go down to find that deep bottom.
.                Because when you were five you walked by yourself to the movies.

This is how you dad:
.                I’m fourteen. Lifting weights at the Y.
.                I push myself to be strong, stronger, the best.
.                You got your muscles by throwing potato sacks, you said.
.                I push myself to be strong, stronger, the best.
.                Because you got to be strong by throwing potato sacks.

This is how you dad:
.                I’m thirty-six. My turn to dad.
.                It’s scary. No idea what I’m doing.
.                You told me you learned to swim when your dad threw you in the water.
.                I keep my head above the current because you didn’t do that.
.                Because you’ve been teaching me how to dad all my life.

-Jason Lee Miller