grudge

no one could hold one longer
than the ex, his
dad once dissed his smoked
turkey drumsticks at thanksgiving.
he never ate with the man again. i
think of all the alienated
friends and family he could be leaning
on now his hips have been replaced but he
goes it alone cuz, well, when you burn bridges
eventually people stop giving you matches.
it took me quite a few years to run
from his fires but now when he
refuses to pick up his son for the weekend
cuz a teenage sense of time doesn't
match his schedule, i remind the boy
that the father's the one missing
out. not that he'd know it, he's too busy
picking at loss scabs, carving scars
for inheritance ,blinding himself
to the time he has left. he'll fill it
up though, a bowl of gnashed
teeth and justification breakfast
at his table for one.