Christopher Soto: Forgiveness

for Dad

I’m writing you
         10 years later
    & 2,000 miles
                 Away from
    Our silence
My mouth a cave
That had collapsed
      I’m writing
  While you
You wear the
                Hospital gown &
          count failures
  Such as the body’s
Inability to rise
             I see your fingers
Fumbling in the
       Pillbox     as if
             Earthquakes are in
    Your hands
                I think it’s time
    For us to  abandon
Our cruelties
             For us to speak
So     s o f t
We’re barely
                Human.